Dirty Little Secret
by Ms. Controversy
Summary: “You are…Tala’s girlfriend?” Kai asked, making an educated guess. The blonde went red, avoiding wrong mental images, “No…no! I’m his sister…”
1. Chapter 1

_Whoever told you to face your fear never faced a fear before… _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter One

"I've…lost…three pounds…ever since I…joined track…and…field," The blonde panted as she jogged with her tiny olive green shorts and her coral pink tank top, "I can…even…fit into…my old…bikini now."

"But its…fall…not…summer," The redhead came to a halt as the whistle sounded across the field.

"Great practice! Students, please remember, if you _want_ to be on the track and field team, get your parents to sign your permission forms, however, if you are eighteen, you can sign it yourself. If you're showing up just for your own benefit, that's fine too. Have a good weekend, and remember, practice on Monday, early in the morning!" The coach grinned. Unlike the stereotypical coaches that usually appeared on television shows or movies, Coach Carlton was short and not muscular at all. He was a tad bit on the chubby side.

"So are we still on for tonight, Evian?" The redhead questioned looking up at the blonde.

"Totally, we haven't had a girl's night out in like, forever" The two high school seniors walked away from the school's track field and entered the school, "But first we have to pick up my brother; he had blade practice today in the gym."

The redhead sighed, "Beyblading…"

"I _know_, eh?" Evian rolled her sea green eyes. They took a seat on the empty bench outside of the gym. "It's stupid, to talk to a spinning top, ordering it around, I mean…seriously…"

"And have you noticed? Only losers join – except Tala, your brother's not a loser…and that Kai guy."

"My brother's a total loser. He's worse than a loser. No, he's a _disgrace_ to losers. And Kai's like, half a loser." Evian spoke, "Apparently he's like claustrophobic or something. He's in my calculus class."

"I heard he's really smart though,"

"Totally, but I think he cheats. And his sister, Mariah, is like, a total bitch."

"That Chinese girl? Isn't she his step sister?" The two quieted down as soon as the large gym doors opened as the students of the Beyblading club just poured out of the large gymnasium.

"Ew, they're like all sweaty," The redhead whispered in disgust. Like always, Tala was the last one to exit the gym.

"Oh, I feel special," He grinned upon seeing his sister and her friend, Evelyn, waiting. "You guys didn't' have to wait."

"I wouldn't have," Evian said, "Mom made me. Sort of. Well, not really. I don't like walking home alone. And don't come near me, ew, you're all wet."

"It's called perspiration. It's natural. If you'd taken biology this year, you would've known."

"I know what it's called, moron." Evian led the way out of the school. "Besides, I hate biology."

"You hate _everything_." Tala made a face.

"I do not. I really like…English."

"Yeah right. You almost flunked that course last year. And you hate reading." He shook his head. Evian was picky, and who would've known better than Tala himself? He was after all, her twin brother…unfortunately. They looked nothing alike in appearance. Most people who met them usually assumed they were a couple, which was a pretty disturbing postulation.

And their personalities…they were just…incomparable. He was outgoing, she was not. He was smart and she was…a blonde, nevertheless.

"Guys, its Friday, which means, it's illegal to talk about school today, and the next two days." Evelyn cut in. "Anyways, I'm going to take the bus home, so I should probably get going. And Evian, remember, six o'clock sharp!" The curly redhead waved and ran the opposite direction.

"Hot date or something?"

"_No_. The mall, because I seriously need a new pair of jeans, and a movie maybe."

"Don't you have a calculus test on Monday?" Tala asked.

"Totally. But you can help me study, right? I mean, I _did_ help you with your chemistry assignment."

"You just did the title page – in pink, which Mrs. Mohan just happened to like." He rolled his eyes.

"Still…you owe me, _big_ time."

"Fine, but not today; hockey's on tonight, remember?"

"Oh, right. You and your hockey."

"And I 'invited' a few friends from blade practice."

"_Friends_…?"

"Okay, well not friends since I hardly know them, but just…members of the same club…ish…thingy…you get the point, right? Or is the blondeness totally getting to you."

"Oh, shut up. You have red hair."

"So does Evelyn, so if you talk shit about _my_ hair colour, that automatically means your shit talking about Evelyn's hair, and that means I'm going to have to tell her, and _that_ means she'll hate you for eternity."

Evian made a face, "So whose coming? That really fat guy? Oh my god, he's _so_ ugly."

"Like you?" The redhead joked, but the sense of humor earned him a painful whack on the head. "So­­-_rry_! Jeez, you hit like a girl."

"I _am_ a girl. So who's coming?"

"Not like you know any of them. This guy from my English class and his sister; some guy named Jeremy, and Marshal of course. Plus mom and dad are going out for the night, right? So that's a bonus."

Evian heaved a sigh, "Bring on the beer…"

"Bingo!"

**x x x **

_The pink cardigan? Or the black one?_ Evian stood in front of her closet with her hands on her hips, hoping to make a decision soon. She had already passed the 'what-to-wear-on-a-Friday-night' part; now she just had to finish it off. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed the pink one. She looked at herself in the mirror, somewhat satisfied. Her tight jeans hung on her hips without the support of a belt. Her forest green t-shirt clung on to her shapely figure, showing off her somewhat large breasts, just the way she wanted. It wasn't that she was sluttish, every girl did it – even tomboys – it's just that no girl ever acknowledged it.

_Perfect!_ The doorbell rung from downstairs, "Coming!" She called from her room. Tala was probably still out picking up Marshal and Jeremy. It must have been Evelyn and Miriam at the door, just waiting for her. She raced down the stairs, her blonde her bouncing behind her and her side bangs rebounding on her face every time. She pulled the door open, and her smile turned into a look of confusion.

That was okay, because whoever was at the door at the same facial expression: utter mystification. He stood there, ready to say something, yet he didn't. He had messy slate hair and seemed to be moderately a few inches taller than the blonde. Hey, wasn't he from her calculus class? Totally. And wasn't that his sister, right beside him?

"Uh, is this the right house?" He asked.

"…no? I don't know?" She wasn't the best when it came to situations like this. Especially this one; what the hell was the guy from her calculus class – and his step sister – doing _here_, at her front porch? Something…

"You're Evian, right?" Mariah asked, smiling, breaking the stillness. Her bright pink hair was tied in a ponytail. She was dressed in a black three-quarter top, along with a pair of faded jeans.

"You are…Tala's girlfriend?" Kai asked, making an educated guess. Unlike most guys his age, his wardrobe actually consisted of 'normal' clothing. Maybe that was because his mother was a nurse, and his step father was a lawyer; he came from a decent family. He was technically an exact replica of Seth from the popular television series, _The O.C._ Or at least he dressed like him. Evian knew nothing of him except his name…and the fact that he was super smart.

The blonde went red, "No…_no_! I'm his _sister_…"

"Ohhh…you're his sister?" Mariah asked. "_Really_? I thought Evelyn was his sister, you know…the hair…"

"Yeah…come in. He'll be here in like a second or something. He went to get his friends." She moved aside, letting the 'strangers' in her home. They stood by the door way, and she felt uncomfortable, "Yeah, um, why don't you guys like have a seat? Maybe I can get you guys something while you're waiting?"

"No, we're fine." Mariah said. "So were you going somewhere?"

"Yeah, to the mall, and maybe downtown. I'm actually waiting for Evelyn and Miriam. They're supposed to pick me up. Evelyn's always late though."

"You're always late for calculus." Kai countered. "Every morning."

"I don't really like math." She shrugged. "And I don't really like getting up in the morning."

"He can relate. Kai sleeps like a baby, I swear. _I_ have to get him up every morning since our parents go to work early in the morning," Mariah shook her head.

"Really? But you're always on time," The blonde looked at the boy from her math class.

"Thanks to _me_. I even make him his lunch! He seems self-regulating, but trust me, he's so not; he's always dependent on other people." Mariah grinned. There was some laughter between the two girls; Kai just sighed, there goes his reputation, down the drain…then again, he really didn't have one to begin with, not with Tala's sister anyway. There was a second doorbell. Everyone's attention was to the closed door.

"I'll get that…" Evian opened the door for a second time, and luckily enough, Tala was finally here, possibly with that Jeremy guy along with Marshal, who was holding a case of twenty-four.

"Hey, you guys are already here? Oh, and this is Evian, and she _is_ my sister, not whatever you guys thought…_if_ you guys thought something…not that you _should_ think anything…we're _blood_ related," Tala paused for a second, "In other words, we came from the same uterus." He rolled his eyes.

Mariah laughed, grinning at the blonde. "No, I think your sister came from the cool side of the uterus." That earned a snicker from everyone else, except Tala, of course.

"Aren't you going out with your friends or something?" Tala asked, closing the door behind him, leading everyone to the kitchen. Abruptly, the phone rang across the two story house. Tala picked up the phone by the refrigerator, "Hello, Macaffery residence?" There was a quick pause before he turned to face the blonde – the _only_ blonde in the room, "Evelyn says she can't make it tonight; family dinner."

"_No_ way, gimme the phone," The blonde grabbed the phone in disbelief and waited until everyone left the kitchen for the living room. She heard the television turn on. She leaned against the kitchen counter, "Hello? Evelyn?"

"Yeah, listen, I'm _so_ sorry, but I totally forgot about this thing tonight. My aunt invited us for a family dinner, and I _have_ to go, my parents are making me." Evelyn sounded fairly distressed about it. But it was understandable. Pssh…family dinners, who invented them anyway?

"That's okay," Evian tried not to sound too annoyed, she was, after all, really looking forward to having fun today. And it was worse since she got all ready for no incentive. "We can go tomorrow, or maybe next Friday or something."

"Thanks so much! Babe, you rock! I knew you wouldn't get mad! I'll call you tomorrow, alright? Kiss, kiss! Bye!"

"Bye!" The blonde placed the phone back to its receiver and exhaled out noisily. What to do now? It wouldn't be fun with just her and Miriam. They were a threesome. She pulled on the fridge handle, got out the carton of chocolate milk and poured herself a glass.

She made her way to where everyone else was, all hyped about the game, which didn't even start yet. There was five minutes left until it initiated.

"Alright guys, remember, my 'rents will murder me if they find out about the twenty-four, so one of us has to stay 'clear-headed' while the rest of us get drunk off our ass." Tala warned, "Uh, Mariah, you – you don't drink, right?"

"Right…I guess I'll be the 'babysitter'." She rolled her eyes and plopped down on the sofa.

"I'll help," Evian grinned as she took a seat on the couch with her feet up.

"So you're not going out tonight then?" The pink haired girl asked.

"No. You know, family dinner." Evian made the long story short. "Oh well. I was feeling kind of tired anyway."

"So you like hockey?"

"Not really, no." The blonde professed. "My brother's a huge fan though. I swear I think he actually cried during the NHL lockout last year."

"I think Kai did too. I think _everyone _did. I'm not a _huge_ fan, but it's not too bad, once you get used to it." Mariah spoke.

"Alright, shut up everyone, the game's just about to start!" Marshal, the brunette with hair crazier than Tala's, shouted, raising his right arm, a beer bottle tightly held in his other hand.

Someone switched off the lights, and someone turned up the volume on the television. Evian was bored _already_. By the second round, the score was a tie, with two a piece for Toronto and Tampa. Every time Toronto scored a goal, Tala along with his friends would literally jump off the couches and act like caged animals. The only thing that intrigued the blonde was the mass of the extremely good looking hockey players.

"I'm going to get some chips from the kitchen, anyone want anything?" Evian got up and combed her hair with her fingers. Everyone's eyes were literally glued to the television screen. "…anyone? Okay, I'm not going back to the kitchen once I come back; your loss."

Exiting the living room full of hockey zombies, the blonde entered the kitchen, the sudden bright lights hurting her eyes. She opened the cupboards and pulled out a bag of _Doritos_. She searched for a bowl, and as soon as she found one, she transferred the chips from the bag into the green coloured bowl.

She grabbed a piece of chips and put it in her mouth as she closed the bag that contained the left over chips and stashed them back in the cupboard.

_Thud._

The blonde turned around immediately upon hearing an unfamiliar, but bloodcurdling sound.

_Thud._

There it was again. It sounded like…an earthquake, but with less resonance. The blonde stared up at the ceiling; that's where she assumed it was coming from: upstairs. It was loud enough for her to hear from the kitchen, but it probably wasn't audible from the living room because of the television, plus, in their state of mine, Tala and the others probably wouldn't have heard it even if the television was turned _off_.

Speaking of the guys…maybe it was one of them, upstairs, trying to find the washroom, or just…trying to scare the not-so-living day lights out of her? Either way, she was still shit scared just to take the stairs and go check. Instead, she quietly walked into the living room and stood behind the couch. Her brother was there, his best friend Marshal, the Jeremy guy, that guy from her math class was also there, _and_ Mariah.

With courage, or so she thought, she walked back into the kitchen to retrieve the bowl of chips. She stood there for some time and gazed up at the ceiling, with the bowl of _Doritos_ in her hands.

"Excuse me,"

The unexpected voice made her gasp.

"Can I get a glass of water or something? It's getting kind of stuffy in that room…" The slate-haired teen didn't feel that welcomed by the look on the girl's face, but of course, it was all just a misunderstanding.

"Yeah, sure," She pulled out a glass from the cupboards, "Filtered water or tap water?"

"Whichever." He said, making the decision for the blonde a bit more challenging. Evian quickly turned on the tap and held the glass under. She appreciated the fact that he wasn't as loaded as the other guys. He probably didn't even finish an entire bottle.

"Here."

"Thanks." He took the glass and took a few sips. It was then that he noticed she seemed hesitant about something; she kept her eyes on the ceiling. "What?"

"What?" She asked.

"Something up there?"

"Oh, no; my dad recently painted the kitchen. I was just…admiring…his work of art." She mentally cursed at herself. She was admiring a white painted ceiling? Plus, her dad never even _touched_ a tub of paint in his life. That was _the_ worst lie in the history of dishonesty. She smiled uneasily and felt even more like an idiot once she realized the look she was receiving from her twin brother's 'blade buddy'. _Excellent; now I'm on HIS list of 'Abnormal Dummies' and he doesn't even know me… _

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**That was chapter one. Not to sound egotistical or anything, but I actually like this chapter, plus it was just super fun to write. Now I have to pay the price of writing a story instead of doing my calculus homework. Help? Lol. R and R! **


	2. Chapter 2

_If you had one shot…would you capture it…or let it slip? _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Two 

The weekend rolled by quicker than it should have or at least that's how it felt like. Tala, as promised, eventually assisted his twin sister with calculus. Ironically enough, Evian knew her stuff and Tala ended up 'encouraging' her to do the best of her ability instead of actually 'tutoring' her.

"We're going to be late for school, Ev," The redhead seventeen year old rolled his eyes as he watched his sister apply mascara.

"Hold on a second, god," She stared at herself in the mirror with her mouth open, putting on the mascara, which to Tala really didn't make a modification in his sister's appearance. He sighed.

"You have a test first thing in the morning, remember? You studied for a reason." He spoke logically, but of course logic didn't really float Evian's boat. Then again, logic didn't float _any_ blonde's boat – that was Tala's premise.

Luckily enough, with Tala's nagging and crazy driving, the MaCaffery twins made it to school even before the bell rang. The two shared a locker, which was half-filled with Tala's two-week old lunches. The other half was overflowing with Evian's things, which even included some extra clothes for some strange reason…

"What do you have first period?" Evian asked as she squat down to pick out her textbooks on the bottom shelf.

"Chem," He answered, "Hurry up, woman!"

"I have a name, moron," She made a face. "Just go to class, I'm going the other way anyway; I have calculus on second floor."

"Fine; meet me here after school, k?" He disappeared into the crowded hallway. As soon as the bell rung through the school, the students scurried to their classes. The hallways emptied out soon. Evian entered her calculus class, prepared more than ever. This time she had actually _studied_ and even managed to get some help from her smarter half, Tala. He wasn't a super genius, but he carried good enough marks to make the parents proud of their child.

Evian walked in between the desks and headed towards her desk, which was situated smack dab in the middle of the classroom. The room filled up quickly as the students rushed into class, hoping Mr. Earl wouldn't mark them late and send them to the office to obtain a late slip.

Evian took out her pencil and calculator from her backpack and set them on her desk. She, along with everyone else, waited for the teacher to hand out the test papers.

"Grade twelve's," Mr. Earl spoke, his hands full with a stack of stapled papers. "Remember, as soon as you get your test, write your name. If I see a test with no name on it, you will automatically get a zero. Don't cheat; if I even _think_ you are cheating, I _will_ take your test away and again, you'll receive a zero. Relax, and take your time. This test is fairly straight forward. You can begin when you get your test." The teacher started handing out the test papers from the far left side of the class. Eventually, every student in the class got their test papers.

Evian sat in her chair and bit her nails. She flipped through the test; there were three pages in total. She looked at the very first question: _A spherical balloon is to be deflated so that its radius decreases at a constant rate of fifteen centimeters per minute. Determine the rate per minute the air is removed when the radius of the balloon is nine centimeters_. She didn't have a clue what the question wanted her to do. She skipped the question and moved on to the next…and the next…and the next.

She panicked; she blanked out completely. She had _no_ idea what she was supposed to do. At this point, she only had twenty minutes to finish up the test. She had only answered two or so questions, and even then, she wasn't too sure if her answers were even close to correct. Frustrated, she exhaled out loudly and looked towards the chalkboard, deep in thought. She _knew_ this stupid math knowledge was somewhere in the back of her brain. Unintentionally, she looked to her right, and there he was, the 'Brain'. She watched as Kai whipped through the test as if it was nothing.

She felt envious, to a certain extent. He probably didn't even study as much as she did, yet, he was going to get a mark in the nineties while she would receive a failing grade. She had the sudden urge to just _kill_ him. What irked her more was the fact that she considered he was cheating; how else could a 'half-loser' be so smart?

She felt bad calling him names; she was stupider, what did that make _her_? She didn't want to know.

About a minute before the class ended, Mr. Earl had come around and collected the tests from each student. As everyone was leaving, the teacher called the blonde back.

"I need to speak with you after school, Evian, concerning something more important than lip gloss and cell phones, I'm sure," He looked at the seventeen year old sternly.

"Okay, Mr. Earl." She agreed, not smiling, knowing she might probably in some sort of trouble. "Can I go to class now?"

"Yes, go on, but remember, after school." He reminded. The blonde nodded and walked out of her math class, wondering what her calculus teacher had to tell her. It seemed pretty important. She headed off to her English class, which she suspected would be as boring as any other day. They were currently reading _Hamlet_, probably the most boring of _any_ English reading requirements.

**x x x **

Tala shoved a few books into his locker and got out the paper bag that sat on the top shelf, containing his lunch his mother had made him before she left for work. He scanned the hallways to spot his twin. Convincing himself that his twin sister probably went to buy lunch with her friends, he strolled off to the cafeteria.

He grabbed a seat next to Marshal who only had a can of pop for lunch. "Have you seen Ev?" The redhead asked his friend. He shook his head.

"Yo, man, did you hear?" The brunette looked excited about thing Tala did not know of.

"Hear about _what_?" Tala unrolled the paper bad and dumped the contents on the cafeteria table. An apple rolled out, a juice box fell out, and a sandwich, with the crust cut off, landed closely by the other two items.

"Some new blade tournament," The brunette's eyes went wide, "And they're applying some hype new rules, man!"

"Like…?"

"Like you aren't _officially_ on the BBA tournament before you do this thing they're asking all the teams to do. If your team succeeds, _then_ you can actually register to be on the tournament."

"What thing?"

"They didn't say. They're keeping it a secret so everyone can get a fair shot at it. But everyone's makin' teams, all over the world. And this time, they don't want the students to go around the world and miss school, right? So you know what the BBA are doing? They're hooking up with all the school boards internationally; they're going to make us do our school work online, and send our assignments to our school through e-mail."

"But that's not exactly a good idea. There are a _lot_ of people, and if so many people are sending shit over the net at the same time, aren't the computers going to crash or something?"

"Who gives a fuck, man?" Marshal grinned, finishing the remainder of his pop. "All I know is, we gotta get a fucking team together real soon."

"Alright…but we need six people. The rules changed last year, remember? Six people, three pairs. There's only two of us." Tala reminded.

"That's where the Beyblade club comes in…"

"Are you insane? Half the people in there suck monkey balls. I mean, my _sister_ is probably better than them, and she's like never even _touched_ a beyblade before, in her entire life." Tala made a face.

"Well Kai and that pink-haired chick are pretty good, you know."

"I guess…"

"And they went to the tournament _last_ year too. Too bad they got disqualified before the semi-finals."

"Disqualified? As in…kicked out? Why?" Tala questioned. He knew the Kai guy and his sister had a team last year – not a really good one though – but he thought they had _lost_; he never even considered them to be disqualified.

"Something happened with the team," The brunette shrugged, "There's a lot of stories' flying around about the thing but the one I've heard was that the team broke apart because of a dispute."

"What kind of dispute?"

"Some guy named Bryan was the team captain right? So he made up this whole battle plan, and some of the team members didn't like it, so they went against it. Apparently there was a fight one night, and they got disqualified." Marshal then grinned, "That's an advantage for us; we need team members, and they might _just_ be the people."

"I don't know…we don't really know them." The redhead told his friend. "I'll pick up the _Career Blade_ magazine after school today, and check out the rules and stuff and when the deadlines for registering are. I don't think we can join this year, though. We don't know enough people."

**x x x **

"Mr. Francis, can I go to the washroom, please?" Evian asked, breaking the silence in the class.

"This is an important lesson, Evian,"

"I'll be real quick." She reasoned. The teacher nodded, and the blonde left the classroom and darted towards the washroom. She pushed the red door and entered the pink-tiled washroom. She immediately went where the mirrors were and examined her hair. "I knew I should have put more hair mousse…" She sighed, combing the straight, corn blonde strands with her fingers.

_Thud._

She ignored the noise assuming someone was probably in one of the stalls.

_Thud…thud…thud!_

Nervous, the blonde bent down and looked under the stalls. She didn't see anyone's feet; this frightened her even more. The sound was just like the sound she had heard on Friday at home.

_Thud_.

There it was again. "Um…hello?" She called out. "Anyone in here?"

_Thud… _

The noise seemed to be coming from the last stall in the corner. How safe was it to actually go check out the situation? She was wearing a pair of runners today, so if anyone – or any_thing_ – was hiding in there, she could make a run for it. Forcing the terrified feeling down in the pit of her stomach, she slowly walked in the direction of the last stall. "Hello?"

She took small steps, one at a time at a snail's pace. She reached her destination. She paused for some time to see if she could hear the sound again. She placed both hands on the door. "I'm…coming in…" As soon as she spoke, she realized it was stupid. What if it was a sexual predator hiding in there, just _waiting_ for her? Or any other girl for that matter? Gradually, she began to push the door. Funny enough, it was unlocked.

"What are you doing?"

Evian turned around to face a girl, who was probably in a lower grade than her, standing by the entrance of the washroom.

"N-nothing…I dropped my earring somewhere. I can't find it." She lied, hiding her hands behind herself, which made it even more obvious she was doing _something_.

"But you have both earrings on your ears…" The younger girl looked at the blonde suspiciously. Evian felt irritated by the vast amount of questions she was being asked by the nosey girl who she didn't even know.

"It's my friend's earring; she's going to kill me." Evian sighed, "So uh…see ya." She quickly exited the washroom, not wanting to be asked anymore time consuming questions, which she found rather silly. She headed back to her accounting class.

She sat quietly for the rest of the period, in the back of the class, this time actually a bit curious about the noise. It was an unusual kind of noise. It was like there were _two_ noises at once: one sounded as if there was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, and very faintly, she could hear a purr, or something of the like. She couldn't describe it, but whatever it was, this time it really did scare her.

What was strange was…she had heard it at home…and now at school…at two _different_ places, but the _same_ noise. Maybe it _was_ someone trying to scare her, but that didn't make any sense. Who would sneak into her house, that late at night, just to try to scare her? Plus, how did the person know she was going to the washroom? Unless…she was being stalked. But she doubted that.

**x x x **

The hallways started to empty out as students exited the school. Tala leaned against the locker with his hands shoved into the pockets of his _DAKINE_ hoodie. He rolled his eyes; not only was his sister late in the morning for school, but she was even late after school. It was getting ridiculous. Maybe he should just leave, that should teach her a lesson.

_Yes, but then she'd murder me…and I can't hit her back because she just HAD to be a giiiiiirrrrllll…_ The best thing to do was wait.

"Hey! Tala!"

Upon hearing his name, he turned to face his left. He watched a recognizable pink-haired girl from his chemistry class walk in his direction with her step brother strolling along behind her.

"Hey…" He moved away from the lockers. "You're still at school? Is there practice or something today?" He asked, wondering if he had misheard the school announcements in the morning.

"No…hey, so where's your sister?" Mariah asked.

"I don't know; Evian's fucked in the head. I told the girl to meet me here after school. She probably fucking left with Evelyn or something. What a bitch." He fumed.

"Actually, I think she had to stick around for a while; Mr. Earl had to talk to her or something…" Kai professed.

"Oh…" Tala went as red as his hair. "Well…she must not know I called her a bitch…you guys heard nothing…" He grinned.

"Sure," The pink-haired girl chuckled. "So we'll wait with you, k?"

"Really? She might take a while. We might be pretty late. Plus I have to head to the corner store and pick something up." He told them.

"Its fine," Kai shrugged. "Our house is like a block away from yours anyway."

"It _is_?" Tala was more clueless than his sister. He felt a bit egotistical; it seemed as if Mariah and Kai knew about him while he only knew their names. After standing around for another fifteen minutes, Tala was the first to decide that he was going to go the calculus room upstairs and see what was really going on. Maybe she had gotten herself a detention for being a retard.

"How's your sister doing in calculus?" Kai asked.

"She's doing alright,"

"Really? Because Mr. Earl only asks students to stay in when they're doing really bad." The slate-haired teen defied. Tala chose to ignore the elaboration; Evian had _told_ him she was doing okay in calculus whenever he asked, and he asked pretty frequently. She didn't tell him she was having any difficulties in the course. And if what Kai said was correct and if she really _was_ doing badly in calculus, mom and dad wouldn't be too happy to hear about it.

Approaching the calculus room, the three teens stood outside the closed door.

"Maybe she's just getting some extra help," Mariah assumed. After another five minutes, the blonde came out of the classroom looking a bit upset, but that feeling was quickly concealed when she realized she had some company.

"…uh…hi?" She wasn't expecting people, especially not _these_ people.

"What the fuck was that about?" Tala asked and started walking. He seemed pissed; too bad he wasn't aware of the fact that his sister was even _more_ pissed.

"What?" Evian asked, hitching her backpack a bit higher.

"You had to talk to Mr. Earl?" Mariah asked.

"Oh, that," Evian smiled, "No, he was just…asking me how I was doing in calculus."

"So how _are_ you doing?" Tala asked, "Honestly?"

"I'm doing good," She turned to Mariah and Kai, "You guys were waiting with Tala?"

"Yeah; we live really close you know." Mariah said. Her hair was let down; it reached a few inches past her shoulders.

"I know; I've seen you guys walk home before." The blonde said. She looked at the slate-haired teen, "How'd you do on today's test?" She asked even though she knew the answer.

"Wicked awesome," He grinned, "It was really easy." He was dressed in a pair of nice denim jeans with an un-tucked white shirt, along with a pair of navy _Converse-Weapon_'s. He scored quite a lot of points in the fashion department, for a guy.

"I found it really easy too." Evian lied. _Smart ass…_ She wasn't exactly in the mood to talk to people other than her brother. Tala was literally her diary. She told him _everything_. Except for super big things a brother should never know.

"You guys want a ride or something? I've got my car here today," Tala offered.

"Anything's better than walking." Mariah sighed in relief. They walked up to a rusty, green _Toyota_.

"I know what you're thinking…" Tala rolled his eyes and unlocked the door, "It's my parents' old car actually. It's a piece of crap, but at least it gets me everywhere. Besides, I'm broke. But don't worry; I recently picked up an application from Burger King." He shrugged. Evian got in the back. Mariah got into the back as well. Kai took a seat in the front by Tala. The drive to the Hiwatari-Wong's house took less than ten minutes.

"So we'll see you two tomorrow after school for practice?" Kai asked, hoping out of the car.

"After school? _Me_?" Evian asked. She shook her head, "No…I don't blade."

"_Really_?" He asked, shocked more than ever. "I guess I just thought you did since Tala does." He shrugged. "I'll see you tomorrow in calculus anyway, though." He grinned.

"Yeah…"

"Alright, see ya guys! Bye!" Mariah waved. The green Toyota drove off. The car fell silent. Tala looked at the blonde through his rearview mirror. Her arms were crossed and her head rested on the window. She held a gloomy expression.

"Did you lose your favourite lip gloss or something?" He asked, partially in a joking way.

"No…"

"Something I should know about?" He watched as she sat up. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know…"

"Let me guess: you're…failing calculus?"

"Well, not really. Maybe. Mr. Earl said if I bombed today's test, then totally. If I at least passed today's test, I'll still be passing the course, but not by a lot. I know I did really badly on today's test. And I studied really hard this time, and that's what disturbs me even more." She heaved a sigh, "Tala, am I dumb?"

"You're not _dumb_, you just don't try."

"But I _did_ try!" She moved her side bangs away from her sea green eyes. "And I even got you to help me this time. I even did my homework. When it comes to tests and quizzes, I just freeze. I don't remember _anything_ I studied. I'm like, a total moron."

"Don't discourage yourself," He parked the car near the local corner store. "I'll help you with calculus once we get home, k? And I wont tell mom and dad…unless you don't try and piss me off completely," He unlocked the door. "I'll be right back."

"Get me some candy!" She managed to shout before he got out of the car. She sighed and leaned her head against the window again. _But I do try…_

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**ParadoxodaraP – **THAT WAS THE BEST REVIEW I'VE EVER RECEIVED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! Do YOU realize what it means to me? Your review actually encourages ME to go do MY calculus homework and feel a bit better about myself! Thank you so much! That was just…the most amazing review I have EVER gotten! At first I thought it was going to be a flame, and that would've totally discouraged me…but noooo!

I'm trying to make this story as realistic as possible…I'm in grade 12 myself, and I KNOW what goes on, and I know that there aren't very many perverted guys (to be honest, there aren't any), and there really isn't such thing as popular guys in high school – not in mine anyway. Everyone's too busy worrying about universities and colleges.

I totally agree with you. Most of the stories with OCs just suck major ass. You can't get away without either reading a story about Kai being some player or whatever and falling for the new, ugliest loner girl in school (come on...we all know that's not true...guys aren't like that)...or the OC is some kind of punk with black hair and black eyes and black everything. It's super annoying. Or, the OC is like some serious loner, who always sits in the back of the class...and that is so not true. And these days, I've been reading stories (I've tried avoiding them actually) where the OC mouths off to the teacher...and they don't get in trouble for it. I know if I did that too a teacher, I'd get my ass kicked. I'd get suspended or expelled.

Anyways, you just totally made my day. I don't know, I might even think twice about myself from now on just because of your review! I really needed the encouragement especially since my parents were giving me bull for so long. I feel so much better! I loooooove you! You totally rock! Long reply…lol. I'm going to totally print out your review, and frame it. And I'm actually going to do that (it's printing right now, by the way…).

**KaiKaiCutie – **Thanxxxxx! Yes, I believe it will be Kai/OC…when the time comes of course. Ha ha!

**Majirdiu – **Thanks soooo much!

**AnimeGirl329 – **Ha ha! Yeah, I think I'm pretty good at math, it's just that I don't try and I wait till the last minute to actually do my homework, or study for a test. It sucks, really. Don't procrastinate! I honestly think I have like A.D.D or something.

**XxMookinexX – **FUNNY? LOL! I never in a million years thought I'd actually be funny! Ha ha! Lol. Thanks a million! Wow…I'm actually funny…

**-devil-angel kid –** You LOVED it? Well guess what, I love YOU! Lol. Can't believe I got so many reviews! Yes, 6 reviews are quite a lot of reviews to me! Lol. Thanks sooooo much!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N – **Guys, if I don't update as often, it means I was grounded (yes I'm seventeen and I still get grounded…). I was grounded for like a week and a half, which explains the delay. Yeah…hey! I'm a nice girl! Blame my parents! Lol.

_That's the start, the middle, and the end…aren't you glad the universe pretends? _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Three 

When Tala and Evian were both called downstairs for dinner, Tala was the first to dash down the stairs and take his seat at the dinner table with a massive beam across his face.

"My, Tala, what's gotten into you today? You usually hate left over food." Mrs. MaCaffery uttered as she took a seat bringing the bowl of salad with her and placed it on the table.

"I'm just really hungry," The redhead scooped out some macaroni from the large serving dish and placed it on his plate. Evian came shortly and took a seat beside the redhead, across from her parents.

"How is school going, you two?" Mr. MaCaffery asked.

"Great!" The two answered in unity. The parents stared at each other for a moment.

"Well, I have some interesting news." Mr. MaCaffery didn't look up as he spoke. Instead, he savored the curious expressions on the twins' faces. "I think Tala would be glorified by what I have to say."

"I'm getting a new car!" Tala asked, hoping he was right. He really did need a new car. He hated the piece of crap he was driving. Nonetheless, when his father shook his head, his smile vanished. "Then?"

"There's an upcoming BBA tournament, no?" Mrs. MaCaffery started, "Since your father works for the BBA center, this year _he_ was appointed to coach a team for the forthcoming battle."

"Nooo way!" Tala's eyes went wide. His father…his _own_ father would be coaching a beyblade team…and he _needed_ and _wanted_ to be on a team. Opportunity was right in front of him.

"So does that mean you are actually going to go around the world?" Evian asked.

"Possibly, remember honey, the rules have changed. Each formed team will go through some kind of test that will test your skills and capabilities. For example, Tala," Mr. MaCaffery paused, "If you have a team – which you will, might I add – you and your team will compete with _another_ team from some part of the world, randomly picked of course. The team that wins the assessment will have authorization to register their team into the BBA and compete with the many teams around the world."

"I picked up a copy of the _Career Blade_ magazine last week; people need to make teams quickly, because the 'test' thing is in three weeks." Tala said.

"Son, you don't have to worry about the team!" Mr. MaCaffery grinned.

"Why not?" Evian asked. She didn't like the conversation of beyblades, but she didn't want to feel left out.

"I've arranged something; we're going to get the best people this city has to offer." Mr. MaCaffery started, "I've put out a few ads in the newspaper,"

"Saying what?" Tala asked, interested in his father's ideas.

"I've invited girls and boys from ages seventeen to twenty-one to join us at the BBA center in downtown, tomorrow. I'm estimating we'll have about five hundred people show up, if not more. How the rules work? You'll find out tomorrow at ten o'clock. Don't be late."

Dinner ended shortly with Tala literally clinging on to his father throwing a gazillion questions at him about the upcoming tournament and the apparent team that was about to materialize with his father as the coach.

Little did anyone notice an eavesdropping blonde, sitting quietly on the couch, pretending to watch _That 70s Show_ on television.

"So I'm on the team for sure, right? So you're only looking for five other people?" Tala asked, "And I can invite as many people as I want? Including Marshal – he's a _great_ blader dad! He has to be on the team!"

"Relax, Tala!" Mr. MaCaffery chuckled. Evian got up, stretching her arms. She glanced over at her father and her insane, questing-asking brother before leaving for the kitchen.

"Need any help, mom?" She asked, getting herself a glass of water.

"Yes, actually, can you just wipe the counter for me, hun?" The red-haired woman asked. The blonde nodded and got a cloth and initiated on her job. "It's Saturday night, Ev, aren't you going anywhere with Miriam and Evelyn?"

"We would've, but me and Evelyn had cross country today and we had to run six kilometers; our legs are killing us. We can't even walk." The blonde explained.

"I thought you hated running and 'extreme' sports, Evian. What's with joining cross country all of a sudden?"

"I want to lose a few pounds."

"Honey, if you lose any more pounds, you'll be as thin as a stick. You're already a size two…"

"Yeah…and I need to keep it that way, and in order to do that, I think I should stay fit, right?"

"And you better not be on a diet, Evian. I've warned you about those. Girls on diets usually become bulimic! And anorexic! And then they die."

"Don't worry about me, mom. I'm not that crazy and I'm not going to _die_." The blonde grinned, throwing the used cloth at the corner of the counter. She left the kitchen and headed upstairs. She was going to enter her room, but something else caught her undivided attention, something in her brother's room. Usually, she wasn't the one to snoop. She could hear Tala's voice from downstairs; it was safe to enter his room without him finding out. Besides, he went into her room all the time anyways, so it was only fair. And in addition, it wasn't like he was hiding anything.

She walked into his surprisingly tidy room and walked towards his table. There it was, the latest issue of the _Career Blade_ magazine he had purchased from the corner store earlier this week. She picked up the magazine and exited the room. She examined the cover for some time before heading into her room and closing the door behind her.

The cover of the magazine had a picture of a girl; she was very pretty actually. She had short, choppy brown hair. She had the most unusual red shade of eyes ever, nonetheless, they were gorgeous. It looked like she was in the middle of a battle, judging from the bloodthirsty expression on her face. Evian flipped through the magazine. She had no idea as to why she was even _touching_ a beyblade magazine. _I'm just curious, Jesus._ She argued with her inner conscious.

She stopped on page sixteen once she saw two familiar faces. _Mariah and Kai? Interesting…so are they like famous or something?_ She read the title of the article: 'The Knights: What Went Wrong?'. She skimmed through the article; it was so long and dragging. She got a basic idea thought: Mariah and Kai had a team called The Knights – which was a pretty lame name, she thought – and they had been disqualified just before the semi-finals last year.

Tala had never really entered a tournament before. He never managed to stay in a team long enough; he kept quitting and ditching every team he joined. He was never satisfied with the people he knew. Some teams he had joined were too weak, some were too stupid, and some just didn't know what they were doing. Tala never complained about Marshal however. Too bad they were only two people.

She flipped the pages and reached the pages with the rules. The first thing she noticed was a colourful table on the right hand corner of the page. It was separated in two columns: Category and Age. There were four categories, A, B, C, and D. Category A was for people between the ages of seven to eleven. Category B was for twelve year olds to sixteen year olds. Category C included people who were seventeen to twenty-one, which meant Tala and his team would most likely be a Category C team.

She closed the magazine and lied down on her bed. She sighed heavily. _Not only is Tala a good student at school…now he's going to impress mom and dad by being on a stupid team that do nothing but spin tops and talk to some kind of beast or whatever. How can something so lame be so cool?_

She sat up. It was frustrating to live in a house with people that expected so much from you. What sucked even more was the fact that she had set extremely high standards for herself…and she couldn't even meet her _own_ standards, so what made people think she could meet theirs? It was unfair. And stupid!

**x x x **

The lights in the house were all dim. The blonde walked around the unusually quiet house. "Tala…?" She uttered quietly. What was she afraid of? She looked at the stairs.

_Thud_.

There it was again, the deafening noise coming from Tala's room. She took a step, and another, and another until she reached the second floor. She unhurriedly walked in the direction of Tala's room. The door opened by itself. The room, like the whole house, was not bright. She walked into the room cautiously; the door behind her closed by itself.

"Tala?" She paused, "Are you in here?" She whispered so quietly, it was inaudible even if a person was standing right next to her.

From the other side of Tala's bed she couldn't see, she could hear a rather agonizing whimper. "Tala…is that you?" Unconsciously, the blonde crawled over the empty bed to see what was on the other side. Sure she was scared, but at the same time, curiosity made her do what she didn't want to do. She slowly peeked over. As soon as she saw the scenery before her eyes, she went pale. "Tala!" She jumped off the bed to aid the severely injured redhead. There were fairly large blood puddles on the floor around him. There were blood streaks across his face. He didn't look too good.

A thunderous growl that emitted from his closet made her freeze, dead in her tracks. Gradually, she could see a pair of crimson eyes emerge from the closet. She felt a bit dizzy at the sight of something so frightening and strange. Suddenly, everything started to fade.

As soon as she felt a hand on her shoulder, Evian sat up in bed; her own bed, in her own room, tangled up in her blanket. She had a hand on her chest in relief. _A dream…_

"Honey…are you feeling okay? You look as if you just dyed your hair green," Mrs. MaCaffery stood there, right beside her daughter's bed. Evian looked around. That was officially the worst nightmare she had ever had. She was _still_ scared, even though it was over, and all in her imagination.

"I'm fine, mom; just had a horrible, _horrible_, super horrible dream."

She looked around her room and her eyes met with the clock pinned to the wall:eight thirty.

"You better get up, Evian. You have some friends waiting for you downstairs." Mrs. MaCaffery gave the information and left the room.

Evian yawned, and as soon as she realized what her mother had said, she leaped off the bed.

Friends?

At this hour?

On a _Sunday_?

It couldn't have been Miriam, that girl had dance lessons today. Evelyn hated going shopping in the morning, as did Evian. So…who else could it be?

The blonde ran to the washroom. She was out within twenty minutes. She scurried into her room and prayed to god she wouldn't take forever to choose an outfit for the day. Luckily, she was content with the pair of jeans she saw first and the fancy pink top that was lying on the floor. She tied her hair into a quick ponytail with wisps of corn blonde hair coming out from here and there. She raced downstairs.

"Mom!" She called as she hurried down the stairs, "Mom!" She yelled again. Her mom must have been joking about the 'friends' part. She figured that out while she was in the washroom.

"Honey, I'm in the kitchen."

"Evelyn and Miriam don't come here this early in the morning, especially not Miriam because she has – oh…" She paused as she entered the kitchen. Sure enough, she had some company. But they weren't her 'friends'. In fact, she could get away with saying she didn't even know them.

There they were, the Hiwatari-Wong siblings, in _her_ kitchen, sitting at _her_ dining table, drinking from _her_ cups, eating from _her_ plates…invading _her_ home. She was starting to get peeved by them as each day passed. They were so…clingy. They were _everywhere_! Even at school! Sometimes they even had lunch with her and Tala. Sure, they were super nice and all, but still…didn't they have _other_ people to hang around with?

"Hey, Ev!" Mariah called.

Ev? Did she just call the blonde by her nickname? _Ev_? Only really close people – like her parents, Tala, and Evelyn and Miriam – called her 'Ev'.

"Hi…" The blonde pulled out a chair, far – very far – away from the two and took a seat. "Tala's not home." She spat out quickly, hoping they'd leave knowing her brother wasn't home…after all, the Hiwatari-Wong siblings seemed a bit closer to Tala than her. But they didn't leave.

"Yeah, we know, your mom told us." Kai said. "We were actually waiting for you."

"Yeah…we heard about your dad's beyblade team thingy…and how there's something at the BBA center today?" Mariah added.

_Yeah? So…get to the point, sil vous plait!_ Evian thought. Her mother served her three blueberry pancakes. At least something was going right; her mom had prepared her favourite breakfast for her.

"And we really wanna go…but we don't know how to get there by bus. My dad's got the car so we couldn't drive there. We came here a few minutes ago, but Tala already left, so we were wondering maybe if you could take us there?" Mariah asked. "We thought maybe you might know the way by the subway or something?"

"Evian would _love_ to take you two to the BBA center, right honey?" Mrs. MaCaffery stood by the counter, smiling.

_In all honesty, I'd rather go back to sleep. I have bags under my eyes! That's super gross!_ "Um, yeah, sure!" Evian faked her enthusiasm. She finished her breakfast in a jiffy, and by 9:30, the three teens left the house. The ride to the subway station was quiet, mainly because Kai was busy reading all the ads in the subway, and Evian literally fell asleep in there, and Mariah had no one to start a conversation with.

"Arriving at St. George Station," The P.A. system announced in the subway. Evian shot up. This was the stop. She stood up abruptly, a sudden head rush making her feel unsteady. Kai was the first one to actually leave the subway. He seemed relieved to be out of the underground train. Evian found that a tad bit odd. She and Mariah caught up with the slate-haired teen in a matter of seconds.

"He's in a hurry…" Evian mumbled.

"Actually, he's claustrophobic. Didn't you notice? He was like dieing in there…"

"What exactly _is_ claustrophobia?" The blonde asked. "I mean, like I've heard of it before and stuff, but I never actually got around to knowing what it actually is…"

"People who are claustrophobic basically fear confined spaces. The subway was kind of limited in space and since we were in there for a really long time, he felt imprisoned. He was really jumpy in there."

Evian nodded. Interesting…a guy like Kai…scared? It was strange. "It's not fatal, right?"

Mariah laughed, "No, of course not! It's just a phobia." Eventually, the three entered the huge – and it was _huge _– BBA center building.

"So your dad's the manager of this place?" Kai asked.

"Yeah…sadly…" The blonde rolled her eyes.

The slate-haired teen chuckled, "Why are you so against beyblading?"

"I'm not _against_ it…I just think it's…"

"Stupid?" Mariah finished.

"Exactly!" The blonde realized her obvious rudeness, "I mean…no offence. Like, I do things that are a million times stupider, trust me. Just ask Tala." On their way to the large arena situated far down the hall, the blonde was greeted by most of workers at the BBA center. Mariah opened the large door to reveal a gigantic arena filled with more than half the population of the entire city! That was heavy exaggeration…but there were a lot of people present for Evian's father's BBA conference.

"Are you coming?" Kai asked the blonde.

"Uh…" She didn't want to. She'd feel left out. Every person in that room was a blader. She was not. However, before she could even answer the question, Mariah grabbed her arm and pulled her in. Entering the room was like entering a place where she wasn't wanted. It was kind of like being pushed into a swimming pool…when you didn't know _how_ to swim. It was too late to do anything about it though. She was already following Mariah, who was heading towards the benches.

"Hey! There's Hilary!" Kai exclaimed, hurrying towards a brunette sitting on the front row of the benches…by herself.

"Who's Hil…" Evian paused as soon as she _guessed_ who it was. It was kind of obvious since the boy from her calculus class literally ran up to the brunette and participated in the longest make out session _everrrr_. "Ew…"

"That's Hilary – my brother's girlfriend."

_Yeah, I kinda figured…_ "I've never seen her at school before," Evian said and looked away before she hurled.

"Oh, no, she goes to the Catholic school that's a few blocks away from our school." Mariah elaborated. As Evian walked towards the brunette with Mariah, realization hit her…wasn't the brunette on the cover of that magazine! _No total way!_ When Kai and the girl 'calmed' down, Evian was able to get a better look at the brown-haired beauty. _It IS the girl from the magazine! OH MY GOD!_

"Hilary, this is Evian," Kai introduced quickly, "And Ev, this is Hilary." Hilary was even prettier in real life. She was about the same height as Evian, if not an inch shorter at the most. She wore a personalized _From First To Last_ band tee along with a pair of faded jeans.

Evian grinned, ear-to-ear, excited to meet the girl from the cover of _Career Blade_, "Hi!" She greeted. When there was no reply, the blonde felt a bit taken aback and an unwelcoming feeling surrounded her suddenly. Hilary stared at the blonde, up and down, and made a face.

"Baby, who's she?" Hilary whispered.

"A friend from school…" Kai answered.

"Hmm, another 'Ashley'," Hilary defined, making quotation marks with her fingers for 'Ashley'. Then she walked past the crowd dragging her boy toy with her, leaving a stunned and rather enraged Evian. Hilary didn't even _know _her! That 'Ashley' comment was probably the most offensive thing anyone had ever said to her.

And what hurt more was the fact that she had just_ favoured_ Kai by waking up early in the morning and bringing him here because he was stupid and didn't know his way, and he couldn't even say anything to the fucking Hilary bitch!

Even for a generally polite girl like Evian, this meant war!

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**AnimeGirl329 – **The noise is creeping you out? Wow. So now I'm funny (apparently) _and_ scary. You guys make me learn new things about myself! Okay, I'm flattering myself now. Must stop before I get too over confident and screw up the story. Lol. Thanks for the review!

**XxMookinexX – **Well, the teams are being made! You get to find out! But tell me if the chapters are kind of just… 'dragging' and not going anywhere, k? Thanks!

**randomsamuriX – **New reviewer! Welcome! AND THANKS!

**ParadoxodaraP – **LMFAO! I usually click on their profiles too. Sometimes I even read like the first chapter and then make fun of it (mentally…I don't flame…lol). But yeah, most of the stories on are pretty ridiculous and very unrealistic. My story, this time, is almost an autobiographical story of _me_. I think what's happening with me is pretty down-to-earth. I hope everyone thinks so. And yes, your reviews totally make my day!

**HeartlessDevil – **Thanks! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!


	4. Chapter 4

_It's just one of those days when you don't wanna wake up…everything is fucked, everybody sucks. _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Four 

Although her blood boiled inside of her, Evian did a pretty good job at masking her anger after the encounter with Kai's bitch: Hilary. She heard Mariah sigh.

"Don't worry about her; she's probably just in a bad mood or something." Mariah said. "C'mon. Let's go grab a seat." She pulled the blonde's arm and within a few minutes, hunted down enough bench space for the two of them to squish in.

At ten past ten, the room was silenced by Mr. MaCaffery, with Tala standing right beside him holding a clipboard.

"Ladies and gentlemen, _thank you_ for attending this very important first meeting; this excites me, it shows me that you are all potential beybladers." Mr. MaCaffery said, "However, only five will remain standing; the five best." He paused. "My rules are very simple and straightforward. We will begin this immediately. I want you all to find a partner; not a friend, but a stranger." He paused for a second time to see the crowd's reaction; everyone was a bit tense, "Once you have picked someone, I want you to battle them. The winner will stay and pick another person to battle. The loser will leave this arena and go home. This will be held for three days. The last five bladers remaining will be the new team, captained by my son, Tala. Remember boys and girls, everyone in this room gets only _one_ chance. No excuses. This _is_ an elimination process to uncover the five best bladers." Mr. MaCaffery placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder, "Okay, I'm done. Initiate." As he finished, the room filled with noise. Everyone picked a partner; mainly the person that was sitting right beside them. Mariah picked the guy that sat beside her.

"You; I want to battle you." Someone told Evian.

"Sorry, I don't beyblade…" Evian said, moving away from the boy that had asked her to blade. He looked rather scary with all his tattoos and piercings. Evian moved away from the crazy crowd and walked towards her brother.

"What the – you're here?" Tala asked.

"Yeah; Mariah and Kai wanted me to get them here." Evian explained, feeling infuriated for a second time by the mention of Kai's name.

"Have you seen Marshal?" Tala asked. Evian shook her head. "Hmm, he told me he'd be here. Anyways, do me a favour? Turn on the music. Dad says it relaxes people." He shrugged. "The stereo's right there." He pointed. "Here's a bunch of CD's." He shoved CD cases to his sister. There were at least ten, if not, more.

"You're _welcome_…" Evian rolled her eyes and walked over to the stereo system. She picked the CD that was on top of the pile. _Fall Out Boy? What kind of a stupid band name IS that? What the hell does Tala listen to?_ She took out the CD from the cover and placed it into the CD player. She waited for a while, hoping it would play. She sighed. _Play, moron._ She pressed the 'play' button a dozen times. She turned up the volume. Nothing happened. _Stupid stereo…_ She played around with the volume switch and turned it up to full. There was absolutely _nothing_.

Then it hit her…the stereo wasn't even plugged in. She rolled her eyes. She grabbed the cord and searched for an electrical outlet. Once she spotted one, she pushed the cord into the outlet. The abrupt and extremely loud music made her shriek. She tripped over the cord and fell flat on her face.

No one noticed her fall – thank god – but everyone in the room, or at least majority of them, cheered for the music. Eventually, Evian stood up, irritated by everything that happened from this morning up until now. First the dream, then two people who 'pretended' to be friends with her showed up at her house super early in the morning, then the Hilary thing, and now this.

Bored, Evian went through the CD collection. Some of the CDs weren't even Tala's. The collection held Black Eyed Peas' new release, Beyonce's first and only album, two No Doubt CDs, and she even went across Weezer's new LP. Evian sighed; she wished she had gone through the collection _before_ just popping in some dumb CD. Black Eyed Peas would've been so much better.

She shrugged it off and instead, walked around the arena. Everyone was blading! And everyone was a bit too serious about it. She couldn't believe it. They all looked like savages. Disgusting!

She spotted Tala who was watching one of the battles intently. Unfortunately, what stopped Evian from actually going and watching that specific battle herself was the battler: Hilary…

She won. Her opponent, another girl, who actually looked a bit older than her, had her head down. Without a word, the opponent left the arena, followed by countless others who had lost battles with other beybladers in the arena.

Evian watched Hilary pick out another opponent. The brunette battled the boy, and again, savored her quick victory. Evian looked around the large arena and spotted Mariah – like, who couldn't? Evian watched the pink-haired girl who seemed to be in a heated battle against the boy who had asked her to battle in the very beginning, the one with the tattoos and piercings. Surprisingly enough, Mariah won, leaving the 'tough' guy a bit bewildered. Like the many other losers in the arena, the boy left.

By the end of the hour, only 250 beybladers remained, which was almost half the amount from the beginning. And by the end of the hour, something else had intrigued Evian…

**x x x **

"C'mon! Just let me see it!"

"You'll break it! You _are_ blonde, after all." Tala mocked.

"Your 'blonde' jokes are getting lame. Let me see your beyblade." Evian ordered, standing in the middle of her brother's room with her hands on her hips showing she was serious.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in beyblade?"

"I'm not. I just need to see something." She was getting a bit tired with her brother's questions.

"What do you need to see?" He asked.

"You know what? Forget it." She shook her head and left the room. She entered her room. It was getting late. She had school tomorrow. She should probably just go to bed. She lay down on her bed and exhaled noisily. She stared up at the ceiling. She felt…_troubled_. And in addition to her problems, she heard the same noise she had been hearing for the past days. She stood up right away.

_Thud. _

It was…coming from the roof, just above her room. It sounded like footsteps, but not one that belonged to human; it was much louder.

_Thud. Thud. Thud. _

It circled over the roof above her room.

"Here,"

Evian looked at her doorway, a bit relieved to see Tala. He held his beyblade.

"Did you hear that?" Evian asked, ignoring his offer. She looked towards the roof, as did he.

"Hear what?"

"I don't know. It sounded like someone was…hammering the roof or something."

"Probably just the trees; it _is_ raining outside, and it's kind of windy." He reasoned.

"I don't think it was trees. It was pretty loud. You didn't hear it?"

"No…" He said. "Anyways, this is my beyblade. You wanted to see it." He turned the situation around. Evian picked up the navy beyblade, forgetting about the 'footsteps' over her room. The beyblade weighed as much as a 48 gram chocolate bar. It was pretty light. She looked at the bit chip.

"Is _that_ what you call Walrus or something?" She asked.

"It's _Wolborg_." He corrected. "It's a bit beast."

"What does it do?" She asked, touching the bit chip with the wolf picture on it.

"It's basically…a beast…it helps you win battles." He said, not knowing how else to explain to his sister what a bit beast was, "Some people have it, and some don't."

"Does Marshal have one?"

"Yeah."

"How about Mariah and Kai?"

"Yeah…dad was really impressed by those two today, especially by Kai. Did you see Dranzer?"

"Who's that?"

"It's his bit beast." Tala rolled his eyes.

"I didn't see it." She admitted. "How much _is_ a beyblade?"

"The prices range based on the quality," He said. "They can be anywhere from fifty bucks to five hundred. Dad got me this one. I'm guessing it's pretty expensive since it's really good."

"Tala…how long does it take to learn how to beyblade?"

"What is _with_ you?" He asked. "Why are you suddenly…so fascinated by something you've hated your entire life?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know…just curious I guess. So? How long?"

"It depends…I don't really know what you mean."

"Um…okay, how long would it take _me_ to learn how to beyblade to beat _you_?" She asked, knowing that sounded completely stupid. From rumors around the school, she knew her brother was a pretty strong beyblader.

"Uh…I don't know. It depends on how good I am." He answered. She felt better. At least her brother wasn't arrogant like some bladers. He _knew_ he was a strong blader, yet, he didn't say it, "If you want to beat someone like…Hilary Walsh – she's pretty strong – then you'll have to train a _lot_."

"How much? Like, an hour?"

"For beginners, like you, probably a year or something." He said.

"Can you take me to a beyblade store tomorrow after school?"

"You're really starting to creep me out. Like seriously…" He paused, "You _are_ Evian, aren't you?" He poked her.

"Stop." She said, "I'm serious. Maybe I changed my mind about beyblading? Who knows?"

"Whoa! You actually _like_ beyblades now?"

"No…I don't know." She said. She wasn't sure why she was interested herself. Maybe it was because almost every single person in this city was doing it, and seeing all those people at the BBA center today made her feel a bit…envious. Particularly one person.

"I can't take you right away tomorrow; there's more beyblading tomorrow at the BBA center. I have to be there with dad. I can take you after though." He compromised. "K?"

"Yeah…"

"So I'm guessing you probably want to come to the BBA center and watch tomorrow?"

"Yeah…sure." She said. "Anyways, I'm going to bed, k?"

"Alright. See ya in the morning. Please wake up on time." He sighed as he left his sister's room.

Evian switched off the lights in her room and crawled into bed dressed in her baby blue silk pajamas with monkey faces printed all over. Her top consisted of a plain white tank top. She pulled the covers up to her shoulders. The room was dark, but not too dark; she always kept her bedroom door slightly open allowing the light from the hallway to pour in. She wasn't afraid to admit it; she was deathly scared of the dark.

Instead of falling asleep right away, she was deep in deliberation. She was primarily thinking about Hilary…

…no, not in _that_ way. Kai was on her mind too…and again, not in a dirty sense. Did he not say anything because he thought she was an 'Ashley' too? Just a plain old blonde who cared about nothing other than clothes and make up? But…that was rather unfair. He didn't know her. Hilary didn't either. It wasn't fair for them to judge her just like that.

But Mariah was different. Kind of. Or maybe Mariah thought the same thing; she just didn't make it as obvious and Hilary. Maybe _everyone_ thought about her in the same way as Hilary.

_But I'm not like that. I'm not…a bitch or something. I think I'm a nice person most of the time. Just because I like make up and I like to dress nicely doesn't mean I'm an 'Ashley'. _She rolled her eyes. _Maybe I just shouldn't care…if Hilary hates me…I guess it's only fair if I hate her too. _

**x x x **

Blood…blood…and more blood. This time there was a trail of it; drops of it leading to…where? Evian had no idea. But she saw a pair of stairs. The railings had drops of blood on them. Disgusted, she didn't touch the railing at all. She stopped, in the middle of the staircase as soon as she spotted a blue coloured beyblade. She picked it up, even though she didn't want to. It had blood stains on it. She looked at the bit chip. It was a picture of a red phoenix; this one belonged to someone else, not her brother's.

She looked up as soon as she heard an earsplitting growl coming from upstairs. She dropped the beyblade, scared stiff. She didn't move. She was scared stiff. Knowing it was an absolutely crazy idea, she still walked up the stairs until she reached the top. To her right, there were a million rooms. It was the same with the left. The growl came from the right, however. She walked down the dark hallway. She halted as soon as she heard someone…not a bark…but someone calling for help maybe?

She pushed the door open with no plan in mind. Something was thrown at her.

Correction: Some_one_ was thrown at her.

A bloody figure; a male most likely. He had hair in two shades of blue, which was tinted with red: blood. Even though she had a slight idea who it could be, she denied the fact.

"Run…" The figure looked up at the blonde, his auburn coloured eyes just overflowing with horror. Before the blonde could say anything, another howl was heard from the dark room. "Run…" The bluenette managed to say again. The blonde was distracted when she saw something emerge from the room: a blood stained claw…

Evian opened her eyes and sat up in bed; her hair falling over her small face with the terrified expression. She just had a dream…with Kai in it…dieing? God knows. Evian looked at the clock. Seven o'clock. She could go back to sleep…but that was probably not a good idea, not after the nightmare she received. This was the second night in a row she had a horrendous dream. It was…so real. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the image in her head.

She threw the covers away from her body. At least Tala would be pleased that she woke up early for school this morning. By eight, she was ready to leave for school. But it was too early. Even Tala wasn't ready.

"You know, I really think there's something going on with you," Tala said as he came downstairs, dressed in a forest green _American Eagle_ tee with a pair of jeans. "Last night you were hyped about beyblades, and today, you're up, earlier than me even."

"Are we going to leave or not?" She asked.

"This early? Fuck no. I haven't even eaten! Hey, make me a PB and J sandwich? Not too much jam please. Thanks!" He grinned. She rolled her eyes. She decided to make him a sandwich only because she felt sorry for him; why? She blamed it on the dream she had the night before. If something like that ever _did_ happen to Tala…she really didn't know what she'd have done. She'd go crazy. Or maybe she'd kill herself.

She even cut the crusts off the sandwich; that's how bad she felt. She placed the sandwich on a plate, "Here." She said. She examined him closely. He was fine! Right…? Yes. Of course he was fine. His red hair as crazy as always; his turquoise eyes jam-packed with joyfulness like any other ordinary day.

"Something wrong?" He asked. "You're all…blah today."

"I'm not 'blah', I'm just tired." She yawned. She was clothed in a pair of low-rise vintage wash jeans. She wore a three-quarter red tee with 'On the naughty list' written in white. Her hair was let down, like most of the time and ended at her shoulders.

"You're blonde; you're not supposed to be tired. Oh my god, the world is coming to an end." Tala's eyes went wide to add the little extra sarcasm.

"Shut up," She grabbed an apple. "We're still going to the beyblade store today, right?"

"I guess." He shrugged, taking a bite out of the sandwich.

"Hey," She paused, "What would you do, if you were super nice to someone, but they were super mean to you in return?"

"I'd kick their ass." He said flatly.

"Okay, that's what _you'd_ do, but what would I do?"

"How would I know?" He made a face. "Someone bugging you?"

"Kind of."

"If it's a girl, I can't do anything about it," He paused to take another bite out the PB and J sandwich, "If it's a guy…I can gladly kick his little wiener for you."

"Um…that's okay." Evian laughed uneasily. She wondered _what_ her brother would do if he found out the guy that was bugging her was his 'friend'. Sort of. Tala would probably still kick Kai's ass. Evian was probably overreacting anyway. Kai didn't even do anything to her. It was his _girlfriend_. But Tala was right; he couldn't do anything about it if it was a girl. That meant Evian would have to fend for herself. By 8:30, the twins left for school. Evian kept quiet. Every now and then, Tala would look at his sister with the corner of his eyes. She was generally very quiet, but with him, she'd never shut up. But today…she was…silent.

The two entered the school and reached their locker, "I'll meet you here after school, alright?" Evian said. "And um…you're not planning to take Mariah and Kai with us, are you?"

"Do you hate them or something? Or maybe…" Tala grinned. "You have a thing for Kai?" The blonde went red.

"Hey! No! That's not true! Ewww…he's…ew! He's in my calculus class! Tala!"

"You're making a big fuss about," He said, searching through his locker for something, "And usually when you make a big fuss about little things, you're hiding something. I rest my case: you totally like Kai, huh?"

"No…he has a girlfriend."

"Is that what's stopping you from saying it?"

"Saying what?"

"Saying that you like him?"

"I don't like Kai!"

"Oooh, that was dry," Tala said, "Totally the wrong timing too, eh?" He motioned with his eyes, behind her. She was scared to look behind her, yet she did, and when she did, she just wanted to melt into a mound of goop and _die_; behind her stood a speechless Kai, along with a dazed Mariah.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**Ali-Stephi – **I think you are…Paradoxodara, right? I think you changed your username, lol. Anyways, thanks for putting me on your favourite author's list! Wowzers! That's just awesome! Lol. I guess it's realistic because I actually think about how I would personally react to situations like that, and then write it. Lol.

**AnimeGirl329 – **You're not mean! Lol. And trust me, when it comes to a math test and you get too over confident…its bad for you. I've learned that the hard way…a few times.

**HeartlessDevil – **Oh yeah, she's a total bitch. Even on the show, sometimes she's really annoying.

**"Random" – **Thanks for the review! I think everyone has some prep inside of them, lol. And yeah, I have vivid imagination too…unfortunately its not too handy. If anyone says anything dirty – even if its unintentional – oh my god…

**Simply Sakura – **I haven't been able to update in a while because wouldn't let me! What was up with that? Lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Crying Sorceress – **Yes, Ashley is like a blonde cheerleader thingy, and I think it was sort of explained in this chapter, from Evian's POV. I hope. Anyways, yeah, Evian is girly, but she's not completely overboard. And I don't know, I just think guys like feminine girls, judging from the my guy friends and my brother and stuff, lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter too!


	5. Chapter 5

_I wanna be the reason you smile after you wipe you tears… _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Five 

Ultimately, Evian had two options: run away and attempt to _never_ face the Hiwatari-Wong siblings ever again, or tell them what really happened. But option B was risky! That would result with her explaining Tala's assumption, and she just _didn't_ want Kai, or anyone else for that matter, to get the wrong idea. She was bad with explanations and usually ended up tongue twisted.

She did not like Kai. In fact, she hated him. For now anyway.

And she super hated Tala for making her say things she didn't want to…especially in school…

Instead of choosing an option, the blonde went as red as her brother's hair. "I have a cousin…his name is also Kai…and I really don't like him." She lied.

"Uh…yeah…I'll…see you in class…" Kai said, appearing somewhat hurt by Evian's outburst, before strolling off with Mariah.

"That was the worst excuse ever." Tala said. "I don't think he even believed that. I mean, how many people do you meet with the same name as that guy?"

"You shut up," The blonde snapped, "He's probably never going to talk to me again. And I'll _always_ feel awkward around him now. And Mariah! I hate you!" She stormed down the hallway.

"Wait for me! We have class together!" Tala said, completely oblivious as to what his sister had just said. He quickly shut his locker and followed his sister to the worst class ever: parenting. Why he took it? He was forced too…like all other twelfth graders in this lousy school. All these students were having sex _anywhere_ and at _any time _nowadays without protection and the school board figured it was a good idea to scare students by telling them the consequences of having a child. Joy.

Unfortunately, Kai and Mariah were also in that class. However, when Tala entered the class, he was astonished to find that his sister was not present. Soon, after the school announcements, the teacher took attendance.

"Kai…"

"Here."

"Elijah…"

"Here, Miss."

"Anna?"

"Here."

"Tala?"

"Here."

"Evian?"

No reply.

"Evian? Evian MaCaffery?" Mrs. Elle looked at the classroom. She looked at the empty seat beside Tala. "Where's your sister, Tala?"

_She's skipping, duh!_ "She has a doctor's appointment." He lied.

"Alright…Tad?"

"Here!" The list went on for a while. Tala knew why his sister was skipping; so she wouldn't have to face the Hiwatari-Wong siblings of course. But it wasn't a valid reason though, for skipping class.

Nonetheless, during the lesson, Tala wished he had skipped too when he heard the gruesome details about pregnancy and pre-pregnancy, their topic for today's class.

"Now remember, class! I want you to study your notes! You might _just_ have a pop quiz tomorrow! I might even ask how a baby is formed!"

The class groaned, "And Tala? I suppose you will inform your sister about tomorrow's quiz?"

"Yes, Mrs. Elle."

**x x x **

"…I'm having the worst day ever." Miriam whined. "I was going to dye my hair last night, but I didn't have time. And today, in the morning, my hair was being a real bitch by getting all tangled. And then my nail polish scraped off! Argh! I'm so mad!" The bluenette crossed her arms.

"Yeah…" Evian said, poking her spaghetti with the fork. She wasn't the one to complain about things, except to Tala. That guy was literally her diary…and her worst enemy at the same time.

He knew _everything_ about her, every little detail; but he was so wrong about today. He was probably doing that to annoy the shit out of her like always. _Like Kai? My ass. I'd rather like Marshal and that's super gross considering he's like my second brother… _

"Girl, what _are_ you daydreaming about? Or shall I say, _who_?" Evelyn asked staring at the green-eyed blonde.

"I'm just thinking about how much trans fat this food contains," Evian pushed her plate of spaghetti away, "Especially since I'm on a really small diet."

"You're on a diet? Since when!" Miriam asked. "Oh my god! I want to lose two pounds! We can be on this diet together!"

"It's not exactly a diet, I'm just trying to eat healthy," The blonde said.

"Oh! I get it!" Miriam grinned. But the blonde wasn't exactly paying attention to Evelyn and Miriam's conversation, and she wasn't interested in her lunch either. She felt guilty all throughout the morning, especially when she remembered how miserable Kai looked after hearing someone actually hated him. And it was all just a misunderstanding too! She liked Kai! Well, not in that way, but as a friend. Actually, no, she liked him as a classmate. It was too early to call him a friend. He was just a really nice person, and she felt rotten for making him feel disliked when he didn't deserve it at all.

Miriam gasped, "Don't look now, but here comes Mr. Hot-As-Fuck!" She squealed. Evian looked up. She felt like a criminal when her eyes met with the auburn ones for a second. He walked past her table with his lunch.

Evian got up, "I'll see you guys later."

"What? You're going?" Evelyn questioned.

"Where?" Miriam asked.

"Out." She left the cafeteria, hoping Miriam and Evelyn wouldn't follow her. They were best friends; heck, they were almost like sisters, but sometimes Evelyn and Miriam could get a _little_ annoying. Nonetheless, Evian didn't think she could live without them either. It was more of a love-hate relationship, kind of like how it was with her parents and her brother. Miriam and Evelyn could really piss her off sometimes.

Evian exited the school, not knowing where else to go for fresh air. She searched through her purse as she walked towards the parking lot. At least it was empty…except for 'smokers' corner'.

And that's exactly where she was headed for. She entered the small area, its only barrier being a rusty fence with a small opening so people could enter and exit. There were at least seven students, getting high or whatever. Some of them were younger than her, and a fraction of them were in her grade. No one talked to each other. It was silent. She got out a cigarette from her purse, and someone had already offered her their lighter.

"Thanks…"

She lit up the cigarette quickly. She tried to veil herself behind the other students just incase Tala, or even Marshal, or _anyone_ she knew saw her. She'd be dead. Besides, it wasn't like she was totally addicted to smoking or something. Some people finished a pack a day; with her, she had a single, individual cigarette every other day, if not, less. And plus, smoking was an excellent way to control her figure. So, it was all good! No worries! And she was even planning to quit!

Someday…

Soon, the bell rung, signaling that lunch was over and students were to report to their third period classes. They had four classes each semester; two in the morning and two more after lunch. Of course, some seniors also had spares. And some students, like herself, just skipped.

She left the 'smokers' corner' and went back inside the school. Great. Calculus. She couldn't skip two classes in a day; she'd get caught by the principal and get in a lot of unwanted trouble. _I can't avoid Kai forever. He's IN my school, not to mention, I even have like two classes with him. I can't always skip calculus and parenting. That's my disadvantage. _

She got into her calculus class, walking to where her desk was located without even looking in his direction; she didn't even turn her head, she just plainly walked to her desk. Class initiated when Mr. Earl stood in front of the class holding a stack of papers.

"I've marked your tests from last week, and I must say…" He paused, making the class a bit tense and anxious, "You've all done quite well!" He smiled. "Then again, there _are_ some of you who could use a little extra work." His smiled faded. He started handing out the marked tests.

Evian sat in her seat, still as a tree, praying to god she at least passed. Her test fell on her table, upside down. Mr. Earl said nothing. Evian turned her test paper over, wanting the feeling of apprehension to go away. She looked at the right hand corner of her test. She experienced a sudden head rush when she saw her final grade: 32 per cent!

She wanted to die. Again.

Like the day of the test, Evian was told to see Mr. Earl after school, along with a few other students who didn't do too well on the test.

"Are you all doing your homework?" Mr. Earl asked the students he had kept in. There were five of them. "Maybe I should assign you extra homework, and maybe I should even _check_ it." He stared at the three girls and the two boys. "And Evian, I didn't expect you to fail this test, you know. I assumed, after seeing your average mark for the course, that maybe you would put in a little extra effort so you could at least _pass_ calculus."

"I studied, sir…" She squeaked.

"Obviously not enough." Mr. Earl talked to the other students, in the same tone of voice: disappointment. The four other students left, not exactly caring. Evian stayed in.

"Mr. Earl? I was wondering," She paused when the teacher looked up at her, "Is there any extra credit assignments I can do? To boost up my mark?"

"Unfortunately, we don't do that anymore. However, I can give you extra homework." He said. That wouldn't help. Evian was not very self-motivated; she needed a reason to do something, and since homework was never checked by the teacher, she never bothered doing it. She needed someone to sit down with her and force her to do her homework.

"Um, okay…" The blonde said, knowing it wouldn't do any good, but she took it anyway. She left the classroom shortly after and went downstairs to her locker.

"Where _were_ you?" Tala asked, "I was about to leave without you." He was dumbfounded when the blonde walked right past him, completely disregarding him. "Hey!" He paced behind her to catch up to her. "I'm talking to you, hello!"

"Leave me alone!" She picked up her speed, exiting the school.

"If this about the whole Kai thing, then sorrrrryyyy! How was I supposed to know he'd be standing right there?"

"I don't care! God, just fuck off!"

"I said sorry!" He whined. "And we have to go to the BBA center, remember? We're already running late! Are you coming?"

Ah, great. Now she couldn't be mad at him; she needed a favour to be done. But she was in a bad mood, especially after seeing her test mark.

**x x x **

"– and I even studied this time! You know, I was at least hoping I'd pass," The blonde sobbed, bitching about her test, driving her brother absolutely insane with her nonstop whining and such. Plus, there was a heated traffic jam. They were going to be delayed. "It's just not fair because there are retards in my class that _never_ study and they get a higher mark than me."

On the other hand, Tala felt sorry for her. She _did_ study, but she probably didn't study hard enough. She was lazy. She studied at the last minute. She had a brain, she just didn't use it. She was probably really intellectual; she just didn't know it.

"There's a difference," Tala started, "Between practicing and being competitive."

"I practiced!"

"Obviously not hard enough,"

"That's what Mr. Earl said," She wiped her face with her sleeve.

"Maybe because you _didn't_," He articulated. "Like, if you did the homework everyday instead of going to the mall or worrying about your weight or trying to fit into a size two dress or whatever, maybe you would've surprised yourself. You could have done a lot better. You have the potential, and I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. I _know_ what you're capable of."

"Yeah, I'm capable of being the world's stupidest asshole." She rolled her eyes.

"It was just _one_ test; it's not the end of the world, Ev,"

"It _is_ the end of the world! I don't even know what I'm going to be in the future! I'm supposed to be planning about what university I want to get into, not worrying about whether I'll pass or fail calculus! And I even have to worry about getting into a good university and whether the program I get into is good enough or not."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'good' university? All universities are good, you know."

"Nooo…" She sighed. _Mom and dad don't think so! You don't have to worry since you also have a fucking scholarship! _The conversation came to a rest.

Late by thirty minutes, they finally arrived at the BBA center in downtown.

"You might want to wash your face," Tala commented, "You have black streaks."

"_What_? Are you serious? And when I bought it, they said the mascara was waterproof." She rolled her eyes. "Do you have tissue?" After getting rid of the black lines and smudges off her face, the two entered the arena.

"Tala! Son, where have you been?" Mr. MaCaffery went ballistic. Almost. "And Evian? Hmm, I assume Tala dragged you here. Anyways, Tala, I need you to go to the other side of the arena and watch those battle. I think we have a few cheaters." He whispered the last part.

"Can I help?" Evian asked.

"Sure. Your brother might need some help," Mr. MaCaffery said, leaving the two teens.

"You know what to do?" Tala asked Evian.

"Not really."

"Okay, _first_, you need to change that crap dad call's 'music'," He made a face, looking up at the speakers located in different places in the area, "And then come to me, k?"

"Alright," Like the day before, she went to stereo, and this time made sure it was plugged in before she made an idiot out of herself again. She looked at the CDs, there were more – a lot more – than yesterday. Some people must've volunteered their CDs. Picking out a CD would now be a problem; she wasn't good with quick decisions.

"Hey, uh…girl 'on the naughty list',"

Girl on the naughty list? Hey! That's what her shirt said! Was someone talking to her? Evian turned around, and boy was she glad to see another blonde in this place! Not that they were the only ones…but he was the only other one she noticed. He had shaggy baby blonde hair with eyes the colour of the sky.

Evian went red; he was super cute.

"Yeah?" She answered.

"I was gonna ask if you could play this CD?" He held out a _Bloc Party_ album. Evian couldn't hide her excitement.

"Oh my _god_! I love Bloc Party!" She didn't just say that because he liked it; she truly adored the British-based band.

"Great! I couldn't blade with some of the slow stuff you guys had on yesterday." He spoke.

"Yeah, I know what you mean – actually, I don't blade," She said as she put the CD into the player, ending the classical music Tala thought was 'crap', "But it was super boring with my brother's music."

"No way! Tala's your brother?"

"We don't look alike at all, I know. He's my twin. I'm two minutes older though!" She grinned. "But he's still smarter than me," She added, earning some laughter from the other blonde, and that's when she realized, she didn't even know his name, "I'm Evian," She provided him with her name first, because she knew in return, he'd do the same.

"Enrique," He held out his hand as a friendly gesture. She accepted the handshake. "Anyways, I better get going; I really want to make the team." He said. "So I'll see you 'round?"

"Yeah! Totally! Good luck!" She smiled, watching him run off to some other beyblader. _So cute!_ And then she also realized she was supposed to go back to Tala.

"Hey, Ev, I need some help," Tala said, pushing his clipboard to his sister, "Watch this battle, and write down the winner's name, k?"

"Wait! How do I do that?"

"Uh, you write their names down by using the pen provided…" Tala said in a matter-of-factly way.

"No! I mean, like, how do I know who's the winner and who's the loser?"

"The beyblade that stops spinning, or is thrown out of the dish, is the loser, k?"

"Um, okay…"

"Easy?"

"Yeah, I hope so." She said.

"Alright, I'll be back. I need to get a drink. You want something?"

"Yeah, can you get me some candy?"

"Candy's bad for your teeth."

"Shut up and go," She ordered, "I'm doing you a good deed by watching this battle!" She watched him shrug his shoulders and leave the arena. Though she'd never admit it, Evian was carefully watching the battle before her.

There were two beyblades: a yellow one and a green one. She had no idea which one was better; they were both colliding into each other, making a screeching noise she didn't like very much. _And my brother likes this!_ She put both hands over her ears. That's it! She was bringing in her MP3 player tomorrow. _It's like the teacher scratching the chalkboard with her nails! _

Suddenly, the yellow beyblade flew right out of the dish, nearly hitting her in the head, "Ahhh! Christ! Watch it!" She cried out.

"Sorry!" The boy said. "Hey, I won!" He called his green beyblade.

"Alright, you need to leave," The blonde told the owner of the yellow beyblade, "And I need your name." She looked at the player with the green blade.

"Vince LaSalle," He answered.

"Um, okay, and…how do you spell your last name, sorry?"

"L-A-capital S-A-L-L-E." He replied.

"K, thanks!" She said. Within seconds, she could see Tala return with a can of pop and a small re-sealable plastic bag filled with candy.

"Catch," He threw her the bag. He was rather surprised when she actually caught the bag without any trouble. _Interesting…_ "So uh, did you run into any problems, or what?"

"No, it was super easy." She said. "But really boring."

"Glad you feel my pain. I'd rather blade than do this," He eyed the clipboard. "But it would be a lot easier if you can get another clipboard and help me out so at the end I don't get trampled by the winners."

"Nah…"

"Hey, I got you candy!"

"Fiiine."

"Great! Go ask dad for a clipboard. Then just walk around, watch a battle, record the winner's name, and that's about it." He instructed.

"K. And then you're taking me to a beyblade store after, right?"

"Yeah, whatever. We'll have to hurry up though; I have a major chem assignment due tomorrow." He explained his reasoning.

By the end of the hour, fifty bladers remained. Once everyone had left, Tala, Evian, and Mr. MaCaffery stayed in to clean up.

"You know what's funny?"

"What?" Evian asked, not very fond of sweeping the arena. This was probably the first time she even _tried_ to sweep a place.

"Kai and Mariah haven't been beaten yet…that's how good they are. Kinda scary. Everyone from school who showed up were gone by today." Tala said.

"Well, they almost _did_ make it to semi last year, remember?"

"Yeah and…hey…how did you know?" He eyed his sister.

"I…read it in that magazine you got from the corner store."

"Okay, answer me honestly, k?" He watched his sister closely, "Do you…_like_ beyblading?"

"I've never done it before, remember?"

"Yeah, but do you _want_ to?"

"Of course not!" She answered. He knew when she was lying and when she was being honest…and at this point, she was not an inch close to honesty.

"Liar…" He mumbled.

"I am not! I don't! I'm just curious!"

"About _what_!"

"I just wanna know why everyone likes it so much and why I don't." She answered.

"So why don't you?"

"I don't know; I guess it's just that mom and dad decided to get _you_ a blade and they got me a Barbie doll instead," She sighed, "And I've never really got a chance to try it out."

"So…do you _want_ to?"

"Kind of." She spoke quietly. "Stupid, I know. I'm seventeen, and I've never touched a blade before, and I wanna try it out all of a sudden now." He was glad to get the truth out of her. So she wanted to try it, and she was a little embarrassed because she'd called it 'stupid' her entire life. It was fair enough. He actually felt blissful; at least now he wasn't the only one in the MaCaffery family who owned a beyblade; he had a sister too – how? He was going to get it for her.

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**Everyone, thanks for the reviews! I just can't answer them now because its ** **12:29 AM****! And I'm dead tired! Holy macaroni! I'm going to bed! BYEE! I sound drunk…but I'm not!**

PS! This story is going to be kind of long...no one minds, right? Oh, and one more thing, I just want you guys to give me a brief description on the following characters: Evian and Tala. You know, just tell me how their personalities are and such. I just want to know what you guys think so that I know I'm on the right track. Thanks:D


	6. Chapter 6

_I'd tried to be perfect, it just wasn't worth it…nothing could ever be so wrong. _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Six 

"Where are you two going?" Mr. MaCaffery asked.

Before Tala could answer the question, Evian cut in, "He's driving me to Miriam's. We have this huge project that's due like tomorrow."

"Oh, okay then. Be home for dinner, you two." Mr. MaCaffery said. "I'll see you two at home then." He waved, leaving the BBA center. The two kept quiet until their father was out of sight.

"What the hell was that about?" Tala asked. "You can't tell dad?"

"He'll think I'm crazy."

"He won't."

"Yes he will. Now take me to a beyblade store." She demanded. "It's already six o'clock." A store that sold beyblades was nearby, within walking distance.

"Well, here it is, let's go in." The redhead said. Evian suddenly didn't want to. She felt stupid all over again. What was she doing? "Are you coming?"

"Um…I don't know…"

"Don't be an idiot, come on." He pulled her inside. The store was…empty.

"And here I thought beyblading was the most popular sport ever." She rolled her eyes.

"It is, but everyone's done their beyblade shopping; there's a tournament in a month, remember?" He reminded.

"I'm not sure about this…" She felt a bit nervous.

"About what?"

"I've never been in a beyblade store before. I feel like an alien." She whined. "It's like sex! You just rush in without knowing _anything_."

"Bad analogy…"

"Well it got the point across, didn't it?" She sighed. "So where _are_ the beyblades? All I see are beyblade rings or whatever…and bases…whatever those are."

"These are beyblade parts. The beyblades are sold close to the cash register so no one steals them. They're expensive." They reached the customer service area.

"Hello! Welcome to the best beyblade store in the history of beyblade stores! How can I help you two?" The cashier asked gleefully; he was at least in his forties.

_That was THE corniest thing I've ever heard_.Tala ignored the thought, "I'm looking for a beyblade for her," He motioned with his head towards the blonde.

The cashier smiled, "How cute! I have _just_ the beyblade for your girlfriend!"

"No, no, no, no, no! I'm his SISTER." Evian corrected.

"Oops, my mistake!" The cashier laughed uncomfortably. "Yes, anyways, here's a really good one!" He pulled out a pink one.

"Oh my god! It's so pretty!" Evian commented. "And pink!"

"Sir, we're looking for a _good_ one…a really good one." Tala said, looking fairly serious about the matter. The cashier's smile vanished; his eyes shifted from left to right.

"Alright kid, how much are you willing to spend?" He asked quietly. Evian stood there shocked. So this was beyblade marketing, huh? Interesting.

"As much as I think I need to." The redhead answered.

"Alright then, follow me," The cashier said, moving away from the customer service area. He looked behind him before going into a room labeled 'Employees Only'.

"Tala! I don't _want_ a beyblade, I want to _see_ one!" Evian said.

"You've already seen mine. I want you to have one."

"I don't want one."

"Yes you do."

"No, you're just forcing me. And I don't have money. So there. Let's go home." She tugged at his arm.

"Nice try." He said, pulling out a debit card from his wallet. "I was wondering how I should waste all this money. I finally have a reason." He said.

"You know, its okay. You don't have to get me one just because I want one."

"So you _do_ want one, eh?" He beamed; he was glad to get all the information out of his sister, especially the ones she didn't want to say. She sighed.

"Yeah…" She confessed. Before the conversation could progress, the man came back, holding a box. He went behind the cash register and pulled out the contents.

"Whoa! It's…transparent!" Tala exclaimed.

"That's right, kid." The cashier said, "And since your sister likes pink, I dug out a pink rip cord and launcher."

"Look," Tala shoved the colourless beyblade to his sister. Evian held it carefully. It was light…lighter than Tala's. There was no colour; it was unique. "How much is it?"

"How much do you have?" The cashier asked.

"What if I said I had a dollar?" Tala asked.

"That's obviously not good enough. This is a new blade. No one's got it yet. It's specially made,"

"How?" The redhead asked. Beyblade marketers were so concerned with money nowadays. It was hard to get information out of them. But he didn't want to get ripped off.

"It's a lot lighter than most blades, right? So it's got more velocity allowing it to spin for a longer time than most of the beyblades out there." He said.

Tala looked at his sister, who was so fascinated by the transparent beyblade, she probably didn't even blink. "Like it?" He asked. She nodded.

"A lot." She admitted.

"So is there an actual price for this thing?" Tala asked the cashier.

"We were thinking around three hundred." He answered.

"Fine," The redhead said, "Do you take debit?"

"Hell we do," The cashier said.

"You mean you're actually _getting_ it?" Evian asked. "It's three-hundred dollars!"

"So?"

"You're _crazy_,"

"That's only because I have a crazy _sister_…" He said, entering the pin number for his debit card. He wasn't prepared for the sudden embrace presented by his sister.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" She held him tighter than a snake.

"Suffocating…"

"Oopsie! Sorry!" She backed away.

"I told you you're crazy…like, mentally crazy." He said. "Let's go." By the time they got home, it was already dark. Dinner was served, but Evian kept quiet. She was too busy thinking. _I can't learn in one day…wait…one day? What am I thinking? That's not what I'm thinking am I? Well…I could be…well, I have one now, I might as well test it out tomorrow…yes, that's totally insane. _

She was already making big plans even though she didn't even _try_ out the blade. And her plans were set with pretty high standards like always.

_Thud._

Evian looked towards the ceiling.

_Thud_.

She looked at Tala. He was too busy enjoying his dinner. She looked at her parents. They were in the same state as Tala.

_Thud_.

"Honey…your dinner?" Mrs. MaCaffery asked, looking at her daughter's plate, which was still filled with food.

"Do you hear that?"

"The sound of the rain? Ah, yes. Beautiful, I must say." Mr. MaCaffery smiled.

"No…something…else." Evian said.

"Like what, Ev?" Mrs. MaCaffery questioned, pushing her daughter for a more detailed answer.

"I don't really know how to describe it. It sounds like footsteps and its coming from the roof." She looked at the ceiling again.

_Thud._

"There! Did you hear it?" She exclaimed. Her parents, along with Tala, looked at her strangely. "Just listen…" The dining area became silent. No one touched their food. They all had their eyes glued to the ceiling.

_Thud_.

Evian shuddered; unfortunately no one else had the same effect. "Can't…you hear it?"

"I think you need some sleep, honey." Mrs. MaCaffery said. "You should go straight to bed, right after you finish your dinner."

"I'm not hungry anymore," She said, "This is too much food for me anyway,"

"Evian, you can get very sick if you diet at this age," Mr. MaCaffery said. "And maybe that's a reason why you are imaging all these sounds. Pretty soon you'll start seeing things."

"I'll have her dessert!" Tala called, grinning.

"Ah, nice try. I'm full, but I'm not that full. But I'll give you half!" Evian negotiated. After all, he deserved it.

After dessert, which was ice cream, Evian went to her room. She looked at the ceiling; _it's not my imagination…_ She sighed. _I should just forget it…_ She pushed the thought aside and began thinking about the beyblade. _I don't even know how to blade…Tala's right…why am I suddenly so concerned about beyblading? Okay, I guess I kind of know…but…that's not the entire reason._

She didn't even want to think about the reason. Was it right? Right or wrong, it was driving her to her limits. She stood up, getting off from her neatly made bed. She walked towards Tala's room; the door was open. He was lying down in bed, deep in thought, which was kind of funny…he never really thought about things so intensely.

"What are you doing?" Evian asked.

"Thinking about who's going to be on the team…" He answered.

"So who do you think will be on it?"

"I have a feeling Mariah might just make it; I know Kai's going to be on the team for sure. Dad loves him. I'm pretty sure that Hilary girl will pull through."

Evian cringed at the name.

"What's with you?" The redhead asked, noticing the not-so-pleasant look on the blonde's face.

"Nothing. Who else?"

"I don't know. Enrique maybe," He added. Evian went red and mentally jumped for joy. "Seriously, what?"

"Nothing!" _Enrique is hot as fuck, that's what!_ "Hey, uh, do you have any books on beyblade?" She asked, shoving the previous topic aside and getting to her point.

"Tons," He answered, "They're all in a box in the basement. I suppose you want them…"

"Totally," She grinned, "Um…can you come with me? Dad never changed the fused light bulb in there. It's dark." She made a face.

"Fine…" He got up, grabbing the flashlight with him. They went down stairs.

"Where are you two headed?" Mr. MaCaffery asked, not turning his head away from the television.

"We're getting something from the basement," Tala said. He turned the doorknob and met with a staircase that went a long way down. Evian couldn't remember the last time she went to the basement. Knowing her, this was probably her first time. "C'mon," Tala ordered. The blonde followed the redhead down the stairs. The flashlight, although it helped, didn't supply the needed amount of light. They reached the bottom of the stairs.

"It's cold in here…" Evian whispered.

"Duh, it's a basement," Tala said, flashing the light over in different directions. Like Evian, he wasn't too fond of the basement. He wasn't scared, he just didn't like it. "Look for a box with 'Tala's stuff' written on it." He told her.

"K," She went the opposite direction, "Tala…are there bugs in here?"

"A lot! There's like centipedes in here, and millipedes, and oh, there are also these huge ass cockroaches down here."

"Thanks for scaring me…" She mumbled but still headed towards a stack of boxes. The light in her region dimmed down since Tala was moving the other way, far from her, checking out the boxes on the other side. _Evian's Stuff…no, that's not it…Old Kitchen Supplies…nope…Old Shoes…we actually have a box with old shoes?_ Evian thought.

She felt Tala behind her…which was funny, because the light was still far away.

"Did you forget the flashlight somewhere?" She asked, in her normal tone of voice.

No reply.

"Well, your box of stuff isn't here," She continued. She felt something on her back. "Stop that."

She ignored the annoyance and continued reading the labeled boxes. She felt a hand on her back, "Stop trying to scare me…"

"Did you say something?" She heard Tala's voice. "I can't hear you from all the way down here. The basement's really big, you know!"

But his voice was far away, coming from the other end of the basement. A sudden shrill feeling traveled up her spine.

_Wait…if he's still on the other side of the basement…then…who's behind me? _

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**I'm getting so many reviews telling me that my OC, Evian, is very down-to-earth and realistic…and that makes me feel super awesome! **

**And to cUt-TilL-aLl-ThE-bLoOd-SeApS-oUt, thanks a lot for the review! And I know what you mean; sometimes people just have the need to tell other people things, even if they're complete strangers. I've done that so many times only because I couldn't trust my own friends or something. My brother (he's eleven, turning twelve) is very much like Tala. And Evian, as I mentioned before, is basically _me_…almost. I wrote the story according to how me and my brother get along; we get along great, but there are times sometimes when we just can't stand each other. My brother is just like Tala – smart, talented, whatever. And I am…not. I try to be! **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I know I didn't really mention anyone here (and people might start thinking I'm egotistical, but I'm not!). I don't really have time because I think I was grounded today but my parents aren't home but I think they're coming in like five minutes so I have to get the fuck out of here! **

**R and R! Thx:D**


	7. Chapter 7

_Maybe…I don't really wanna know…how your garden grows, 'cause I just wanna fly… _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Seven 

Evian was scared stiff. What ever was about to happen could happen, but she didn't want to look behind her.

"Tala…?" She peeped. She was horrified. "Tala!"

"What?" He asked, his voice filled with irritation. Evian could be so annoying sometimes.

"Can you…come here please?"

"Why? Did you find the box or something?"

"Just get over here _now_."

"What's your problem?" He flashed the light towards the blonde. Her head was down, she was trembling. "Hey, you okay? Evian?" He observed for a moment before walking past the many things on the basement floor. He placed a hand on a blonde's shoulder. She jumped. "Spider?"

"I don't know…I wanna get out of here…"

"Why? What happened?"

"I want to get out of here _now_…" She said. "Get me out of here."

"What'd you see? Evian!"

There was a loud noise that sounded like frying pans and cooking pots hitting the ground all the way from the other side of the basement that startled them both, "We have to get out of here! C'mon!" She grabbed the flashlight, leading the way for the first time. She heard Tala follow close behind. The two got out, and Evian hysterically shut the door with a 'slam' and locked it.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" The redhead asked.

"There's something down there…"

"What's all the commotion, you two?" Mr. MaCaffery walked towards the twins.

"Nothing." The two answered in unison. It was a twin thing…

"It's getting late. You two have school tomorrow, not to mention, your mother and I work in the morning as well. I think we should all go to bed." Mr. MaCaffery yawned.

"That's exactly what we were planning to do…" Evian said.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Their father inquired.

"No." Evian said. Before her father could ask anymore questions, she pulled the redhead's arm and dragged him upstairs. "Go to bed." She ordered and entered her room, shutting her bedroom door without another word.

_Okay…_ Tala thought. She was so pushy all of a sudden – maybe in a 'safe' way, but still. He shrugged it off. He was rather tired himself.

**x x x **

Evian lay on her bed still, flat on her stomach. There was no other sound other than the rain and the thunder. What was she doing, wide awake at 6:36 in the morning? Being afraid to go to sleep, that's what. She was afraid to close her eyes the entire night; what if something leapt out at her?

It was an irrational thought…

She turned around in bed, this time unconsciously staring up at the ceiling. She felt extremely drowsy, but the thought of the 'thing' in the basement disallowed her to get some shut-eye. She wondered what happened in the basement last night. Something was down there. _Or maybe I'm being stupid. Maybe it WAS a spider. Tala said so; there were bugs and stuff down there. _

But if it was a spider, then that still didn't explain the sudden pots and pans hitting the floor. _Tala knocked them over…but…he was right there with me at the time…_

And what about all the noises she was hearing? _Maybe I'm not getting enough nutrients. My brain's not working properly. I should eat well._

She heard her parents leave the house for work. The car drove off, out of the driveway. The blonde sat up in bed. _At least I'm up early again…_

By 7:30, she was bored out of her mind. She was dressed for school, her hair was done, she had her shoes on, she had breakfast, and she even made her bed. She was seated on the couch, sighing every now and then. Tala should be up in about five minutes.

Not knowing how else to kill time, she examined the tips of her hair, checking for spilt ends. She found none. _I should really curl my hair one day. I'm getting bored of straight hair._ She continued inspecting the strands of corn blonde hair.

"- the forecast for today is rain _again_ for the city of Toronto! Looks like we're going to get plummeted with large amounts of rain for a third time in a row this week, and snowy weather is expected to come soon, just in time for Christmas. Pedestrians are warned to…"

Evian looked up at the television. It was turned on. She furrowed her eyebrows. She looked around the living room. The television remote was sitting a good distance away from her. Tala must've set the timer for some reason. She walked towards the television and turned it off. She stood there, her back facing the television, as she looked at her nails. _Ew, they are SO long! And where is that nail polish mom got me over the summer?_

"- thank you Brad, and now over to traffic. Looks like its going to get heavy on the QEW…" Evian turned around. "Tala, this isn't funny." She pushed the 'power' button on the television, turning it off for a second time.

And again, it turned on. Evian made a noise of frustration. "I'm not in the mood, Tala. Stop. I didn't get any sleep last night and yes that means I might be cranky today." She switched off the television. She stared at the television screen hard, and yet again, it turned on. "Quit it! I know you're trying to scare me. It's not working."

She remained quiet. Where _was_ Tala anyway? She checked the kitchen: nothing. It was then when she felt a bit alarmed by the nonsense that was taking place. She wasn't as frightened as last night however, it wasn't dark anymore. She took the stairs and walked towards Tala's room. The door was still shut. She knocked. "Are you in there?"

She knocked again, "Hey, are you up yet?"

There was no reply.

"Look, I'm coming in so if you're changing or something, you better hide!" With that, she turned the doorknob and burst in. To her surprise, the redhead was still in bed. Well if he was in bed all along…then…how did the television turn on? She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Right now she had to get him up. He was going to be late, and if he was late, _she_ would be late. "Alright, get up." She said, pushing the curtains aside allowing the light to seep through.

"What time is it?"

"Time for you to get up. I can't believe you didn't get up already."

"Not feeling too well…"

"If I have to go to school, so do you." She said. She pulled the blanket off him. "Get up. Plus, you have an English test today; can't miss that."

Nonetheless, at this point, she became fairly concerned. He wasn't exactly the type of student to take illness and miss school. Besides, knowing Tala, he'd rather _go_ to school, and then _skip_ classes. There was nothing for him to do at home. However, he always managed to get ill during late fall, or early winter. He was known to have a weak immune system.

Before she could say anything else, he sat up in bed and mumbled something that sounded like 'stupid English'.

"So you're going to school then?" She asked.

"I have to…" He lazily got off his bed and made his way out of the room.

**x x x **

Being greeted with parenting class first thing in the morning was bad enough, but getting a pop quiz in calculus was worse.

_For the love of eye shadow, I have no idea what the range of this function is._ Evian stared at her quiz. It was a small quiz, having only three questions. _Three super hard questions that were meant to make me feel like a complete idiot_.

Before she could even write anything else down, there was a knock on the classroom door. It was the principal. Mr. Earl stepped out of the classroom, and within seconds, he popped his head back inside, "Evian? You need to go to the office."

Each and every student looked at the blonde. She wasn't the brightest student, and she most certainly wasn't nerdy, but getting in trouble was definitely something she wasn't accustomed to, and most students were aware of that. Maybe that was why everyone was so surprised, because she was being called down to the office by the principal. And how important could it be that she was being pulled out of a quiz? _Maybe they checked my records. Oh good god. Am I being caught for too many skips? _

Evian stepped out of the classroom and met with the principal, "Am I in trouble Mr. Hue?" She questioned in a shaky voice. If she _was_ getting in trouble for skipping classes, she'd be dead. Her parents would ground her for life.

"Not this time, Evian." He even knew her name. That wasn't a good sign. Principals only knew the names of trouble makers. "It's concerning your brother."

She looked up at the principal. Was Tala in trouble? Was he suspended for beating the crap out of another student? Was he cheating on his English test? Did he vandalize something that belonged to the school? "What happened?"

Her question was answered once she entered the main office in the school and looked at the chairs that were provided for guests or students who got into trouble. On one of the chairs was her brother, who _really_ didn't look so good. He was pale. He looked as if he was going to fall off the chair any second.

"He says he's not feeling very well; we can't reach your parents at home so he asked the secretary to call you down here." Mr. Hue elaborated. The blonde nodded and took a seat beside the ill redhead. "I want you to sit here with your brother until we get hold of one of your parents so they can pick him up and he can go home, okay?"

Evian nodded once again. The principal disappeared something. She immediately turned her attention towards her brother. "What's wrong?"

"What do you think?" He didn't bother looking at her. He didn't feel well and he was pissed. He wanted to be home and in his bed, not in school.

Evian placed a hand over his forehead, and she wasn't very surprised to find that his temperature was a lot higher than usual. He had a fever.

**x x x **

Evian stood in front of the large golden doors for a few minutes; entering the stadium without Tala – or someone who was familiar with beyblades – felt odd. She heaved a sigh and pushed the large doors open and stepped inside. Several heads turned towards her. The stadium went quiet.

Only six people were in the room. That was funny. What happened to all the other beybladers?

Despite the fact that everyone was looking at her like she had ten heads, she paced towards her dad. She explained to him why Tala wasn't with her and the fact that Tala had asked her to come in his place to find out about his new team.

"He's sick? Hmm, that's too bad." Mr. MaCaffery said. "Did he miss his English test?"

"No, he wrote that before he wanted to sign out of school." She answered.

"Okay, well," He paused, not sure how his daughter could be of any use at all. The team was already chosen. No work needed to be done. She really didn't need to be here. His son needed to be here; he was after all, the team captain. "This is your brother's team." He finally said.

Evian smiled and looked at the team. She jumped for joy – mentally – once she found out Enrique was one of the lasting members. She frowned upon seeing Hilary. It was worse once she noticed Kai and Mariah had both made the team as well. And there was one other guy, she did not recognize. He had black hair and golden eyes; he was either Chinese, or Japanese, or Korean, or something like that.

"And I was just about to let everyone introduce themselves, you know, as an ice-breaker." Mr. MaCaffery went on. "Maybe you can say something about Tala since he's not here."

"Okay, I guess." Evian said. She looked at the team and finally smiled, "Congratulations on making the team! Tala's going to be _really_ happy! Unfortunately he wasn't able to make it in today since he's sick. He's going to be your team captain, and I think my dad's mentioned that before. I think that's all." She shrugged.

"Good," Mr. MaCaffery said, "You, I want you to tell us your name, the name of your bit beast, and something miscellaneous about yourself." He motioned at Hilary.

"My name's Hilary Walsh and my bit beast is Aphrodite. Something miscellaneous about me is that…I go to a Catholic school." She finished. She looked at Mr. MaCaffery for approval.

"Excellent, lets go clockwise around the circle; that means you're next." He eyed the pink-haired girl.

"I'm Mariah Hiwatari-Wong. My bit beast is Galux – it's a cat. Uh," She paused to think about what to say next, "And this here is my step brother, Kai."

"I'm Kai Hiwatari-Wong and my bit beast is Dranzer. Something unimportant about me is how I was named. My mom used to be a zoologist before she became a nurse, so she traveled in a lot of place around the world and her favourite place was Egypt's capital city, Cairo. She named me after the city, except she shortened the name and replaced the 'C' with a 'K'."

"That's very interesting," Mr. MaCaffery smiled and let the baby blonde next to Kai continue.

"I'm Enrique Diaz! Really happy to be on the team! When I first told my mom I wanted to participate in this thing, she said I didn't stand a chance against all the other people and she suggested I go back to Italy if I really wanted to be on a team because I'd have more of a chance there than here! But here I am! I made it! Can't wait to go shove it in her face! And um, something miscellaneous about me is that my great grandfather is from India. Oh, and my bit beast is Amphilyon."

The room was silent for some time as everyone registered Enrique's information. Then, the black-haired teen started, "I'm Ray Kon and I'm the proud owner of Drigger. I don't really have much to say about myself, but something about me that isn't very significant is…um, Enrique and I go to the same school." He said. Enrique grinned and nodded.

Mr. MaCaffery clapped, "You all seem like very interesting people and I know my son will be _very_ happy to have you all as his teammates! I don't want to bore you, and I know you are all worn out from beyblading, so I want you to go home and rest. Our first practice will be this weekend, starting at ten o'clock. Please be on time and wear something you can move around in, such as track pants and a t-shirt."

"Isn't Evian going to introduce herself?" Enrique piped.

"Um, right, of course she is! Evian, honey, please, tell us something about yourself."

"_Me_? Uh, okay, I'm Evian, for those of you who didn't know already. I don't have a bit beast…I don't beyblade, actually. And…" She trailed off, staring at the ceiling, trying to think of something else to say, "And I totally disagree with Cameron Diaz!" Her abrupt outburst caused some of them to jump, "Like, whoever thinks orange is the new pink, is like, seriously disturbed! That's like saying Dior is the new Gucci! Super gross."

Everyone, including her father, just gawked at her, their expressions completely priceless. It was as if they had just seen the Twin Towers in America go down. Evian went slightly pink. Did she say something wrong?

Mr. MaCaffery was the first to break the awkward silence, "Okay! So, like I said, I want everyone to go home, eat dinner, get some sleep and just relax! This coming Saturday is our _first_ practice! Then we only have two weeks until the tournament!" He dismissed everyone from the stadium. Evian stuck around. She got a ride from her father.

Once Evian entered the house, she was literally trampled over by her brother.

"Who made the team?"

Evian sighed, "Kai, Mariah," She paused to think of the other people, "Hilary," She made a face, "Some guy named Ray," There was another pause, and then she grinned, "And Enrique!"

"Really?" Tala seemed pleased. "It's just what I predicted! Great!"

"And your first practice is this Saturday." Mr. MaCaffery said as he entered the house and kicked off his shoes. "How are you feeling, Tala?"

"Better," He shrugged. "Mom says I should stay home tomorrow."

"You should." Mr. MaCaffery said, "Evian told me what happened today. You fell ill in school today. How did your English test go?"

"It could've been better I guess," He answered truthfully. "It was an in-class essay. Maybe if I had a bit more time I could've done my concluding paragraph properly."

Evian left the two and walked into the kitchen. She had enough of school already. She took a seat on the dining table. Everyone else joined. Dinner was served. Mrs. MaCaffery started talking about Christmas decorations and the like. She tried to get some pointers from the rest of the family. That didn't go to well.

Mr. MaCaffery liked elegance – to him, only white Christmas lights around the house would look like and maybe a few blue ones around the small trees in their front yard.

Evian wanted the house to be decorated with pink Christmas lights. That would be a 'nightmare-come-true' for the neighborhood.

Tala could care less about Christmas decorations. He just wanted his parents to know what he _really_ wanted for Christmas.

"– and it has four doors, and goes really fast. Oh it also has four wheels. And it should be silver. It should not have an alarm, those things are very annoying. Anyone know what I'm talking about?"

"A car…" The three others mumbled.

"Right on!" The redhead grinned. "Oh, and it can't, for the love of god, be a _used_ car! No! It can't! I have dignity!"

While all this was going on, Evian's eyes were glued to the ceiling.

_Thud._

She could hear it. Could anyone else?

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**XOSAF –**Lol, about the velocity thing, yes I know. I usually don't look at what I'm typing, or I don't pay attention to it because I'm either listening to music, or something...if my physics teacher saw that mistake, he'd slaughter me. Hope I don't make silly mistakes like that during my exam! May god have mercy on my soul! And about the description of the beyblade, sorry to disappoint you - and possibly other readers - but I'm not focusing too much on beyblade...it's something else I'm focusing on, and I also have plans for a sequel (which might be AU! How odd). Nonetheless, your pointers will totally come in handy in future chapters! Thanks!

**Note! **And all you Kai/OC fans, hold on a little longer:D


	8. Chapter 8

_She's upfront, upshot, upstart, up in every case._

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Eight 

It had been a week since the team members were picked. So far, they had one practice and it went pretty well. After training, it was evident that Kai and Tala were the team's strongest links.

Enrique was a good beyblader, he just needed to focus more and pay attention to the given instructions. Sometimes his stupid questions and comments annoyed the team, but it was all good, and Tala, the team captain, didn't mind Enrique's presence as much as everyone else did.

Enrique was a good guy.

He was just a bit blunt.

It was Monday evening, just a few hours before dinner. But things weren't going right. Or at least Tala felt that way. He wasn't the problem, Evian was. And he wanted to know what was going on, and finding out was easy. All he had to do was ask. Evian only told him everything because he _listened_. And he really did, he didn't pretend. He was a good listener – for his sister anyway. If she had a problem, it was automatically his problem.

He stood in front of Evian's door. He knocked first; he respected her privacy. "Ev? You busy?"

"Um," There was a pause, but there was hesitation in her tone, "A little."

"I'm coming in anyway," He placed his hands on the doorknob. "Okay?"

"Uh, okay…"

Gaining permission, Tala pushed his sister's door open. She was sitting on her bed, cross-legged. He couldn't tell what her facial expression was conveying. It was…something different. It almost looked as if she was _scared_. He didn't know why. He paced towards her and took a seat on the edge of her bed.

The room smelled a bit funny.

"What is that?"

"What?" She asked.

"It smells like…_smoke_." He stared at the blonde. She remained silent for some time before grabbing the air freshener.

"Yeah," She mumbled, "Yeah, I smell it too." She sprayed the _Febreeze_ across her room. She went back to sitting on the bed.

"Anyways," He started, "I just wanted to talk."

"Why?"

Well that was unexpected; usually she was happy when he wanted to talk to her, "Because you like to talk to me about your problems."

"But I don't have problems right now."

He couldn't tell if she was in complete denial or if she was telling the truth. But something must've been wrong. Things just weren't right. He decided to manipulate the conversation, "How's calculus going?"

"Good," She grinned. "We had an assignment today, in class. I got some help from Mr. Earl and I was able to finish it. I think I did okay."

"And what about everything else? You're doing your homework regularly?"

She chuckled, "Um…maybe."

"You have to do it everyday, Evian, okay? And if you need help, then just ask." He waited for a response. Usually, she would nod, or say 'okay' or smile. But today, there was nothing. "K?"

"Yeah, okay." She nodded. Tala still felt a bit weird about the situation. Why was she so cautious?

"What did you have for breakfast today?" He changed the topic and moved on trying to get to where he really needed to be.

"I had," She paused to think about it, "An apple and a glass of milk."

"Lunch?"

"For lunch I had chocolate milk; I got it from the cafeteria."

"That's it?"

"No," She paused, "I also had a pack of Skittles."

"K, you know what? I'm packing you lunch tomorrow."

"No thanks. You can't even make a sandwich. Plus, you'll put in like two spoonfuls of mayo. _Ew_." She wrinkled her nose.

"You can watch me make it. And you're going to sit with me during lunch tomorrow. I'm going to watch you eat the whole thing."

"Why?"

"So that you don't become bulimic or anorexic or something."

"I won't become that."

"I know you won't; I'm not going to let you. You look fine, Evian, I don't understand why you're cutting down on food. I mean, look at me, I eat like a fucking pig, you know that, you've _told_ me that, but I'm not fat or anything. I'm not even overweight."

"Yeah, but that's because you play soccer and baseball and all that stuff."

"You used to play baseball too, Evian. We were on the same team."

"Yeah, I _used_ to play baseball like five years ago." She made a face.

Nonetheless, she was right. She used to play baseball, and then one summer, she just quit, and to this day, Tala couldn't understand why. Joining baseball was _her_ idea, and she used to like it a lot, and then she just left the team saying she didn't like baseball anymore. That was a shame; she was one of the best players on the team. Did she know that?

"And even then," Evian continued, "I sucked." She flaked off the pink nail polish off her nails.

Tala looked at her funny, "Don't be a jackass; you were a _really_ good player."

The blonde rolled her eyes, _not as good as you_. She shrugged her shoulders. "Why are we talking about baseball?"

"That's a good question," He laughed slightly; "I just came here to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About nothing; I just thought we should catch up or something since you haven't really been talking to me."

"I haven't been talking to you because…"

The truth was _this_ close to coming out.

"Because what?" He pressed on. It's what he came here for anyway, to find out she was so 'to-herself' lately.

She sighed as if she was being forced to tell him, "Because you're too busy now."

Well that was like a slap in the face. She wasn't supposed to think so 'intelligently'. She was blonde. She was irrational. She was Evian. She wasn't supposed to outsmart him.

"In a way, I guess I'm a bit busier than I was before. I have school, and the team, and other stuff. But that doesn't necessarily mean I don't have time for you. This is going to sound _really_ corny, but you're my first priority; fuck everything, if we need to talk, we will. You're more important."

"Really?" She smiled a little and kept her head down somewhat shyly, but her dimples were still visible.

"Yeah." He reassured her. "So is there anything you wanna talk to me about?"

She shook her head almost instantly.

"Are you _sure_?"

"Yeah, positive," She nodded reassuringly.

"Good," He patted the blonde, "Anyways, the team's planning to meet up at Kai's place this weekend; maybe you should go with me."

"_Kai's_ place? Are you serious?" She shook her head, "He's been giving me like, super dirty looks ever since that day at school. Men aren't supposed to give women dirty looks. I think he's gay."

"He has a girlfriend…"

"_Maybe_, Tala, he's bisexual." She sat there, saying it in such a matter-of-factly way, that she looked and sounded smart. Nonetheless, her theory was wrong.

"I think I would know Kai's sexual inclination a bit better than you, Evian."

"You've only known him for three weeks!"

_Longer if you count the boarding school I never told you about._ "He's not bi, trust me."

"Whatever you say…"

The weekend rolled by quickly and Evian decided to tag along with her brother and head over to Kai's; Tala told her they were planning to watch scary movies – scary movies were always fun, especially when there was a group of people watching them.

Evian and Tala stood in front of the Hiwatari-Wong's house, absolutely freezing their butts off. "I _really_ hope they have a good heating system." Evian shivered. Her cheeks were a bright pink, as was her brother's. She knocked on the door again and it was finally opened by…someone she did not recognize.

"Oh! You must be Ava and Taylor! Come in!" The women moved aside allowing the guests to come in. The women had a slight European accent. Once Evian noticed the women's hair, she immediately knew it was Kai's mother; she had the same two shades of blue hair that was tied in a lose ponytail and reached a few inches past her shoulders. However, Kai didn't get his mother's eyes – instead of the auburn ones he had, she had grey ones. She didn't look very old either; in fact, she looked like she was in her mid-thirties. She was gorgeous!

"It's _Evian_ and _Tala_." The redhead corrected.

"My mistake! I'm Grace Hiwatari-Wong, Kai's mommy." She grinned. "Kai! Mariah! Your friends are here!" She yelled. She turned back to the twins. "So, how long have you two been together?"

Tala made a face, not completely comprehending the question, "We _live_ together."

"Oh, is that so? And your parents don't mind? Aren't you two only seventeen?"

"But our parents live with us…" The redhead answered, not entirely sure _where_ this conversation was leading to. Fortunately for him, Evian understood just in time. She elbowed him, signaling for him to shut up.

"He's my brother, Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong." Evian finally spoke up.

"Oh _my_," The women covered her mouth. "_Really_?"

Kai and Mariah finally arrived downstairs.

"Hey guys!" Mariah greeted. Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong paced towards her son.

"Cupcake, you didn't tell me they were related."

At this point, Evian and Tala forgot about the situation and snickered at Kai's nickname. The bluenette went beet red.

"Yeah, _Cupcake_, you didn't tell your mom?" Tala grinned.

"Aren't you going to grandma's with dad?" Kai questioned his mother.

"Of course we are, Cupcake!" And there it was again, the pet name. Kai sighed; his reputation was really bruised up _now_. Soon enough, his mom and his step father – which was Mariah's real father – left the house to see Kai's _real_ grandmother. How confusing.

This left all seven teenagers alone in the two-story house.

And that's probably when all hell broke loose as well.

"My parents are coming home late," Kai said, pulling something out from under his bed. "That means we can have some fun." He grinned as he held up the case of twenty-four. Evian rolled her eyes; so _this_ is what Kai really was like when he knew his parents weren't going to be home and there was absolutely _no_ chance of him getting into trouble. Interesting.

It was no surprise that her brother was the first person to pick out a bottle, pop off the lid, and chug it down.

That sickened her. Alcohol sickened her. Everyone in this room sickened her. _Do they not care about their physical appearance? Oh my god, that's like super nasty._

She watched everyone grab a bottle. Ray offered her one, but she refused.

"You've never done it before?" Ray grinned. He shoved the bottle in her hands, "Try it!"

"Uh, no, really, it's okay."

"C'mon! Just a little bit!" The raven-haired teen tried to persuade the blonde. Evian looked at the transparent brown coloured bottle. The bottle was filled with alcohol. It was not tempting, not at all. She had no interest in drinking it, whatsoever. But everyone else was doing it. But even that didn't intrigue her. _I like my body. I worked hard for this._

"No, sorry. You guys enjoy it." She smiled. "Aren't we going to watch movies?"

"Here," Mariah handed the blonde three DVD's, "Let's head downstairs, guys!"

Evian was responsible for putting the DVD's into the DVD player, and, like the time at the BBA center, she was having trouble with electronics again. She rolled her eyes and spotted the redhead. "It doesn't even open!"

"That's because it's not even _on_, Evian…" Tala sighed; he pressed a button and popped in the _House of Wax_ DVD. "Paris Hilton's in this one?" He grinned. "Awesome."

"Yeah, that's why Kai got the DVD too." Mariah piped in. "He's got a thing for blondes." She said quietly, hoping Hilary, who was in the kitchen at the time, wouldn't hear.

"Sorry Kai," Enrique started, running a hand through his baby blonde hair, "I know you wanna bang me real badly, but I don't swing that way, man."

"But you can bang my sister!" Tala grinned. That comment earned him three things: a laugh out of everyone else, a red-faced Kai who looked as if he was going to die of utter embarrassment, and a whack on the head from Evian that hurt like a bitch.

"Hey _Hilary_," Mariah cued the others to shut up. They were just joking around, but knowing Hilary, it was probably best _not_ to joke about these things.

Everyone sat in different places – Mariah, Enrique, and Evian occupied the couch, Tala and Ray owned the floor, and Kai and Hilary settled for the loveseat, how ironic.

The movie started and the horrendous, endless drinking and pigging out on the ordered pizza began. Nonetheless, Evian only had one slice and picked off all the green peppers.

Half-way through the second movie, Evian realized it was really late and that she had her brother should've been home a _long_ time ago. She scanned the area around her. Everyone was…asleep.

Even on such a limited space, Kai and Hilary managed to cuddle up and make Evian cringe. Ray was sprawled flat on the floor on his abdomen with Tala using Ray's right leg as a hug pillow or something. Well that wasn't very fun to watch; Tala would probably commit suicide if he knew what he was doing. Enrique and Mariah were on the couch, but Enrique really looked like he was about to fall off and hit the floor.

The scene just proved how baked everyone was.

_Retards…_ Evian made a face at everyone's irresponsibility, especially her brother – so much for being the 'responsible' team captain.

"Evian?" The sudden voice startled the blonde. She turned around to see Mariah; the pink haired girl rubbed her eyes and yawned before standing up and looking around and having just about the same facial expression as Evian.

Evian eyed Mariah.

"Don't worry; I'm fine; I didn't have too much." Mariah reassured. She yawned for a second time. "Oh my god! My parents are going to be home in like ten minutes!" Her eyes went wide. She started panicking.

"I'll get Ray and Enrique home; you get Kai upstairs to his room," Evian paused, "And Hilary…"

"Hilary can sleep in my room; I'll call up her parents and tell them she's sleeping over!" Mariah grinned. "Perfect!"

And so it began; Mariah, with much difficulty, managed to get her step brother to his room. Once in bed, Kai wanted to sleep with Hilary, but Evian and Mariah _really_ didn't think that was such a good idea. He _was_ drunk, and he _was_ a guy, and since Hilary _was_ his girlfriend…only God knew what was running through his mind.

After getting the living room cleaned up, Evian got Ray and Enrique into the small Toyota.

"But…but Eleven…you…don't have a li…a license."

"Shut up and get in the car Tala," Evian shoved the redhead in the backseat with the two others. Nonetheless, Tala was right; she didn't have a license, but she knew how to drive. _Kind of…_ Tala had given her a few lessons.

"You're gonna be okay?" Mariah asked, hugging herself because it was cold and snowing.

"Yeah,"

"Thanks _so_ much, I totally owe you." The pink haired girl smiled.

"Don't worry about it," And that's when it hit Evian, "Do you know where Ray and Enrique live?"

"Yeah, you know the street behind our school? Adelaide Street? You have to take a right turn there, and the first house on the corner is Ray's. Enrique lives a bit far from here, but if you take the highway, it'll be much faster."

"_Highway_?" Evian repeated. It was already one thing she was driving without a license, and now she had to be on the highway? She was scared…she was _shit_ scared. But a little part of her _wanted_ to be rebellious; she _wanted_ to drive on the freeway. She had a thing for speed…

Ray's parents weren't home, however, his older brother was. But Dylan was cool with the situation. He wasn't going to rat him out.

Not yet at least.

Evian got back in the car and drove out of the quiet neighborhood. Minutes before getting on the freeway, Evian was terrified. She couldn't do this. She was an inexperienced driver! Tala only gave her like a five minutes lesson in a parking lot! And this was a highway! She was so dead.

_No, Tala is dead! Maybe I should just get him in trouble! I wasn't even a part of this! Besides, mom and dad will know the REAL Tala, the retarded one!_ But before she knew it, she was on the highway, driving at about 160 kilometers per hour. She was able to keep a consistent speed, just like all the other vehicles on the road, but she was still scared. And the weather wasn't exactly in favour.

And the trucks that passed by made her go pale.

But even though she was scared…she was…having fun. She wanted to go faster, a _lot_ faster, but she decided against it. She didn't have a license. She'd be dead if anything went wrong.

After getting Enrique home _safely_, Evian took the long way home; it was better safe than sorry.

Evian sighed in relief once she pulled up on her driveway. Her parents weren't home yet. Thank the _lord_! She pulled the key out of the ignition and stepped out of the car. She looked around her neighborhood. Usually it was a loud neighborhood with kids playing around and things like that, but now it was silent and still. Even though there were very little street lights, the Christmas lights illuminated the district.

She looked back at her house. It was decorated – but not exactly the way she wanted it to be done. Colourful lights embellished the house but very plainly. Oh well. Maybe when she had her own family and her own house, she could do whatever she wanted.

She glanced back at the car. Oh right, she should probably get her brother home and to his room before their parents found out anything. She pulled the redhead out of the backseat and he staggered out of the car. He leaned on his sister as she got out the house keys and unlocked the door.

Evian shut the door behind her once she entered her house, which was nice and warm. Everything was okay until she heard another car pull up into the driveway. Her eyes widened. Her parents were home!

"Tala! Hurry up! Oh my god! They're home!" She pulled the redhead up the stairs. "Oh Jesus, lets go!"

She was able to get upstairs successfully, but she heard the front doors opening. She pushed the redhead into his bed and ran out of his room and went into her room. She kicked off her shoes and crept into her bed.

She could hear her parents climb the stairs.

"Aw, Brandon, look at them, they're such good kids."

_Yeah right! _Evian rolled her eyes. _And because of Tala, I have to sleep in my jeans today! If I get up now, mom and dad will know!_ She had the sudden urge to strangle her brother.

This was going to be a long – and uncomfortable – night.

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**Well people, here ya go! Chapter 8! God, I can't _wait_ for Xmas holidays! And R and R! Thx a bunch babes:D **


	9. Chapter 9

_Everyday I wake up and it's Sunday, whatever's on my mind won't go away. _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Nine 

After the night at Kai's place, everyone woke up the next morning not in the greatest shape. Evian made things worse for her brother – on purpose. That wasn't very fun for Tala since he had a killer headache and it led him to nearly killing his sister by pushing her into a closet and locking her in there for god knows how long. He let her out once she threatened to pee in there.

Anyways, the weekend passed by and it was Monday once again. Evian sat there in parenting class, wondering _why_ she even bothered coming to class when she could've just skipped it or something. She could've been out in smokers' corner just about now.

Nonetheless, they had a major project for today. They were told to make gingerbread houses in groups of four. The gingerbread houses were going to be taken to a daycare so the kids could rate them and the group with the best one would win something.

Evian looked around the classroom looking for three other people, but once she realized the only three people left in the classroom was her brother, Kai and Mariah, she _really_ didn't have much of a choice.

Evian kept eating the jellybeans and the other candies that were supposed to be used for decorating the gingerbread house. Tala kept getting icing all over his black sweatshirt. Kai was having trouble 'gluing' the gingerbread pieces together with the icing – they kept falling apart. And Mariah? Well, she was _literally_ in charge of the group, telling Tala to stop forking the shit out of the icing and reminding Kai that falling asleep on the counter would lead to a complete disaster.

Mariah also managed to scare Evian by telling her there were so many calories in the candies that she'd gain about twenty-five pounds in two days if she didn't stop eating them. However, by the time Evian stopped eating them, there were only five or six pieces of candies left.

In the end, with Tala's insaneness, Evian's competitiveness, Kai's patience, and Mariah's leadership, the group came in second place. After that, Tala literally demolished the gingerbread house and pigged out on it like a maniac and scared away all the other students in the classroom.

**x x x **

Calculus was boring. It always was. Kai didn't like it when Mr. Earl just blabbed on about limits and derivatives and all that jazz. He knew everything there was to know about calculus. Instead of 'wasting' his summer holidays like everyone else, he had gotten a lot of tutoring over the entire summer just to ace this course. And he was. He was getting the second highest mark in the class.

"Your next test will be next week," Mr. Earl went on, "And this time, I don't want to see _anyone_ fail."

Finally, something to look forward to! Call Kai crazy, but he loved tests! It was so much better than sitting in a classroom like a fag and doing nothing.

By coincidence, Kai glanced out the window. It was still icy outside since it snowed over the weekend. Speaking of the weekend, he couldn't exactly recall what happened however, when Mariah told him that it was Evian's initiative to get things 'fixed' before his parents got home, Kai truly was wordless.

Who wouldn't be?

A girl like Evian? _Smart_?

She wasn't supposed to be smart. In fact, she was a preppy bitch, that's all she was. She just liked going around and gossiping and clinging onto her brother for dear life. He really did hate her.

Even though she helped out last night, Kai couldn't stand her. He _used_ to like her as a classmate; she _seemed_ to be a very nice girl. That all changed after that day when she publicly declared her hatred towards him. And he didn't even know _why_ she hated him. Oh well, he hated her _more_ than she hated him.

He looked over at her empty seat. She was skipping and Kai would bet his life on that fact.

He continued to look out the window when his eyes caught something. Actually, it was a someone. He looked more closely and examined the figure. Shoulder-length layered blonde hair, side bangs, trendy clothing and pink mittens? Yes, it was definitely the corn blonde bitch. What the heck was she doing out there?

He watched as she dug into her purse and got some things out and headed over to smokers' corner.

Kai inwardly smirked. So she wasn't _just_ a bitch, she was a _messed up_ bitch who was probably on drugs now.

Lovely.

Before he knew it, it was time for lunch. He met Tala by his locker.

"Where's Evian?" The redhead asked.

"She's talking to Mr. Earl about the test we have next week."

"Oh, okay," Tala shut the locker after taking out the two paper bags; one for him, and one for his sister. He'd been making her lunch for more than a week now. He was beginning to regret the offer though; his sister was extremely picky. He had to go buy yogurt that was fat free just for her! And the juice boxes had to be from a certain company. And her sandwiches? They had to be cut in half, diagonally, and then neatly wrapped.

He followed Kai to their usual lunch seat; Mariah was already there eating away her Chinese noodles. Marshal was there with a can of pop. And ever since Evian was invited to sit with her brother, Evelyn and Miriam joined in, mostly because Kai sat there. Those two openly flirted with the guy even though he had mentioned – not once, not twice, but a million times – that he had a girlfriend. Anyways, after what seemed like eternity, Evian finally showed up.

"Where _were_ you?" The redhead questioned.

"I was –"

"She was talking to Mr. Earl, remember?" Kai cut in. He didn't want Tala to think he was lying or anything. Besides, he was saving the preppy bitch's ass, for what reason, he didn't know. He could've just told Tala she wasn't in class when he first asked. He could've easily been honest and ratted her out.

Evian stared at the slate-haired teen. This was strange. What was he trying to do? Yet, she went along with what he said. There really wasn't a point in changing the story around and getting her ass busted.

"Mr. Earl, yeah, I had him for math last year, and he was like, such a moron, honestly. He'd wear like the same pair of jeans two days in a row. Oh, and he should totally get his car washed! I mean, did _anyone_ check out that piece of junk?" Evelyn made a face.

"Yeah and oh my god, it was so stupid," The blonde rolled her eyes and plopped down on the table, "He kept going on about how important calculus is and how I should do my homework like everyday and how I should probably get a tutor or something."

"I thought you were asking him about your test next week," Tala asked as he bit into his apple; getting captivated and addicted to apples was something he blamed on his health-freak sister.

"What test?" The blonde raised an eyebrow.

Tala glanced over at Kai. Kai looked at Evian.

"Oh, the _test_!" Evian chuckled. "Yeah, I was asking him how I could do better this time. He said I should come in after school to get some extra help."

"I see…" Despite this, Tala could tell something devious was going on and it was starting to piss him off. What was Evian hiding? If she didn't want to tell him, he was going to find out himself.

**x x x **

It was Wednesday, just one more day left until the assessment that would decide if they would be in the BBA or not. However, that wasn't part of Tala's concern. He crept into his sister's room, which was, unsurprisingly, messy. There were clothes dispersed across the room, lip glosses here and there, other make up scattered everywhere, a few pens were also spread out.

She was worse than Kai. At least Kai was messily 'organized' if that made any sense. Kai had his clothes all over the floor as well, but all his t-shirts were piled up in one corner, his jeans in another, full sleeves were mounded up beside his bed, and his boxers lay on his table.

But Evian was just…chaotic.

Tala couldn't stand it. He needed things to be neat and organized. His room proved that. All his clothes were hung up, his bed was always made, his table was controlled, everything was always in place and he never misplaced things.

_I feel sorry for her future husband…_

He finally ignored the mess and went straight to work. He knew it was wrong – _very_ wrong – to snoop around someone's room, especially since Evian was a girl; who knew what she was hiding? But he wanted to know. He wanted to find out why she was acting to strangely lately.

Evian was in the shower currently. It was safe to be in her room without her knowing.

He looked around her room: he lifted up the clothes from the ground to see if there was _anything_ he could find. Did she have a diary? A journal? Maybe it was under her bed.

He checked. The only things he found under her bed were a few pictures, a baseball bat, a few pairs of socks, some magazines, and…what was this? He pulled out a small case; it looked like a geometry set, but no, it was something else. Nothing dangerous or harmful, in fact, it was something beneficial, for _him_.

This was interesting. It was his EpiPen. He was allergic to bees. For him, they were fatal. The instructions on how to use it provided in the case was too long and probably had big words Evian didn't understand and that was perhaps why she had written out a set of instructions for herself that were much easier for her to comprehend in case of an emergency and secured it on to the case with scotch tape.

This made him feel stupid. What was he doing in his sister's room? She was a compassionate person. She wasn't hiding anything and even if she was, it wasn't right to just barge into her personal life and mess around with her privacy. She was seventeen, she was 'mature', and she needed her space. If she really was hiding something, maybe it was a feminine issue he didn't need to know about.

What he was doing was clearly wrong. He was 'trespassing'. He felt like an ass. If she felt like telling him, she would.

He placed everything back where it was and left the room. No, he didn't feel sorry for her future husband at all. Whoever she got married to would be one lucky son of a bitch. And that lucky bastard better treat her like a queen – she deserved it.

**x x x **

It was two in the morning. Evian was wide awake. In fact, she gave up on trying getting some sleep a few days ago. She didn't know why. She couldn't get any sleep. Was this insomnia? She lit up another cigarette; her second one in a row. What was she doing to herself? She was starting to get addicted to smoking. She had one – if not more – everyday. This wasn't a good sign.

But she couldn't fight off the urge. The cravings just came so unexpectedly.

Why?

Something was bugging her. Something made her sad. Something made her cry…

No matter how many times she wiped her tear-stained face, the droplets kept falling. She didn't know why. Was this normal? To not know the reason why you were crying? She didn't think so. Maybe she needed some help. Maybe she needed some counseling. She just wanted someone to listen…

She pinched herself hard. She mentally scolded herself, telling herself to stop crying. She was going crazy. She was a perfectly normal girl!

Wasn't she? A part of her hoped she _wasn't_ normal, maybe then she'd have an excuse for being so dumb and so 'lost' all the time. She felt like she was all over the place. It was such a strange feeling.

She tapped the cigarette lightly allowing the ashes to fall off on to the scrap piece of paper. She finished the cigarette quickly and threw the cigarette butt out her window and crawled into her bed. She pulled the covers over her, praying to god she'd get at least _some_ sleep.

She shut her eyes and squeezed the life out of her lifeless hug pillow and if one didn't know any better, they'd think she was dreaming about her boyfriend while she wrapped her arms and legs around the hug pillow amorously. But, it was just a childhood habit. She couldn't sleep without a hug pillow.

**x x x **

It was almost eight o'clock in the morning. Tala prepared two peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast, one for him, and one for his sister. However, more effort went into his Evian's sandwich since she was fussy.

Tala looked at the time more the millionth time and sighed. He took the stairs to the second floor and entered the blonde's room.

"Ev, you're gonna be late." He pulled open her curtains and let the sunlight seep through.

"I'm tired," She pulled the blanket over her face. "I'll go to school at lunch or something. I'll sign in later."

He heaved the covers off her, "You can't keep missing school, Evian. C'mon, get up; you're going to be late." He stood, beaming over the sleeping form. He looked over at her side table. It was messy, unsurprisingly. There was a tissue box, a few pens and pencils, her calculus text book and a lighter.

_A lighter?_ Tala walked around her bed and towards the side table. He picked up the pink coloured lighter. He tested it out, it was still working. "Why do you have this?"

"Have what?" The blonde poked her head out of the covers. "Oh, it's not mine. Miriam, she recently started smoking and," She sat up in bed and pushed the strands of blonde hair away from her face, "And she doesn't want her mom finding out or anything, so she asked me to carry her lighter. Evelyn has her pack of cigarettes."

"Okay…" He placed the lighter back on her side table, believing every single word that had come out of her mouth. He finally dragged the blonde out of bed. By 8:30, the twins were on their way to school. However, due to the vast amount of snow, it took longer than usual to get to school. Cars were driving by really slowly and because Tala never got his tires changed for the season, they nearly crashed into a school bus full of kindergarten kids.

They arrived to school – late, but students were excused because of the weather. Evian sprinted off to her calculus class. Tala went straight to his chemistry class even though he didn't want to. He could've skipped. But oh well. He entered the classroom, receiving a dirty look from the teacher as he made his way towards his seat. He looked at the empty seat behind him.

Marshal was…not here. He was probably late too. Half the class was absent. Or, maybe Marshal was just skipping; he was failing chemistry and he really didn't like the teacher.

But when lunch rolled by, there was still no sign of Marshal. After wasting twenty minutes of his lunch time looking around the school for the brunette, Tala gave up and headed to the cafeteria.

Evian, Evelyn, and Miriam were conversing about 'some hot guy', and Mariah seemed amused by the discussion. Kai was eating and trying to finish his physics assignment – which was due next period – at the same time. So far, he looked unsuccessful.

"Have you guys seen Marsh anywhere?" Tala asked, looking at his sister; she was more familiar with Marshal than any other person at the table. She shook her head and carried on with her chit chat with her friends.

"Marshal? You mean the other guy that usually sits here?" Kai questioned. "Brown hair, somewhat psychotic…"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"His locker's right next to mine. I didn't see him this morning."

"Maybe he was late or something," Mariah added.

"Maybe," The redhead fished out his cell phone from his pockets and dialed a familiar number. "He's not picking up either," He frowned, flipping the cell closed and shoving it back into his pockets. "The fuck head probably put his ringer on silent again."

Nonetheless, the absence of Marshal didn't stop the others from having fun, but it did stop Kai from completing his physics assignment on time. That resulted in a detention.

Tala, Evian, and Mariah waited by the lockers. Tala continued his attempt to get a hold of his best friend. Evian kept fussing about how she needed a new winter scarf. And Mariah…was being Mariah. The three patiently waited for Kai's return so they could go home, get some rest, and be ready for tomorrow's competition that would determine if they were going to be in the BBA or not.

"Is this like his first detention or something?" Evian questioned.

"No, he's had a few before, mostly for not getting his homework and stuff like that done on time. He's really lazy. He's a last-minute person." Mariah explained. "I told him to finish that stupid assignment last night, when he actually had time, but _nooo_, he had to sit his little ass down on the couch and watch _Fear Factor_ and then talk to Hilary for about two hours."

Evian made a face at her nemesis's name. Hilary was so manipulative. Evian just didn't understand why _any_ guy would want to date someone like Hilary.

Kai finally showed up, apologizing for his lateness. The four exited the school building, making their way into the parking lot and heading towards the Toyota, which was covered in snow. After cleaning off the small forest green vehicle, the redhead dropped off the Hiwatari-Siblings.

Evian looked out the window and once she realized Tala had just past their house she sat up in her seat, "Where are we going?"

"Marshal's place."

"Why?"

"I wanna know where he is. Maybe he's sick or something. But he comes to school all the time. He hates being at home."

"But its cold and I wanna go home. Can you just get me home first and then go to Marshal's house?"

"We're almost there," He parked the car in the Kensington's driveway and got out. Evian stayed in the car. There was _no_ way she was getting out, not in this weather. Tala was crazy. She wasn't. Sadly enough, most people always thought it was the other way around.

Evian looked out the window and watched as Tala spoke to Mrs. Kensington. After a while, Tala looked a bit stunned, and after a few more minutes, he looked downright pissed. He thanked Marshal's mother and headed back to the car.

There was absolute silence. He started up the car and drove out of the driveway.

"What happened?" Evian questioned, not being able to handle the silence.

"None of your business!" His sudden flare-up startled Evian. She decided it was best to not ask anymore questions. She sighed and slouched in her seat.

What made her brother so ticked off after such a short and informal visit to his _best_ friend's house?

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**Merry belated Xmas! Shitterz, my cousins are over from overseas, and they're super annoying. They hog the computer – literally – 24/7, and that sucks. **

**Please R and R! And what I don't understand is, I have 18 people who put this story on their faves list…but they don't review. And I have 17 people who put this story on alert, but they don't review either. Guys, please review; I absolutely love getting reviews! It makes me feel better! Lol.**

**But as of now, what's really on my mind is how that Jared guy died in House of Wax. Holy shitballs…I watched it last night, and I ended up having nightmares. Oh lord. Anyone else see the movie and care to share their opinions? **


	10. Chapter 10

_From up here the city lights burn like a thousand miles of fire..._

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Ten 

While Mr. and Mrs. MaCaffery conversed about their day during dinner, Tala stared at his sister. She didn't notice. She was too busy picking out the green peppers from her fried rice. Yes, she definitely knew something. She had known it all along, probably, and she didn't even tell him.

That's what angered him the most, the fact that she didn't even say a word about the whole situation to him. What was her problem? Was she retarded? Yes, maybe! He was furious.

He reserved the right to know about his best friend. And Evian took away that right.

Didn't she?

Tala watched as she smiled at her parents, moved away from the table, placed her plate in the sink and went upstairs.

Oh, he just wanted to _kill_ her. He finished his dinner quickly and headed upstairs as well. Without asking for permission, he barged into his sister's room. She looked extremely startled. He was so angry, he didn't notice the pack of cigarettes and the lighter she quickly hid under her pillow.

"Why didn't you tell me about Marshal?" He demanded angrily.

She looked at him like he had ten heads, "Excuse me? Wait, no, get out of my room! Knock first! What if I was changing? What if you saw me in my bra! Oh my god, Tala! Get out!"

"_No_!" He slammed her door shut, making her jump slightly. Evian wanted to push him out of her room, but he was angry, and no, that didn't scare her, not one bit, but she was curious. Sure, everyone gets pissed once in a while, but Tala was a bit different. He never got _this_ pissed, plus, she didn't even know why he was mad at _her_. So she wanted to know, hence, she let him stay.

"What do you want?" She crossed her arms and watched him. He stood a few feet away from her bed.

"What did Marshal tell you?"

She made a face at his sudden indictment. What the _hell_ was he talking about? "_Excuse_ me?"

"Don't fuck with me!"

"I'm not! I don't even know what Marshal was supposed to tell me or whatever! Marshal is _your_ friend and he's _your_ problem. If you have an issue with him, then don't drag me into it. I don't even _talk_ to Marshal. I don't think I even know him except for his name and where he lives."

"He has a team, did you know that? He actually has a fucking beyblading team, and he's going to enter the fucking tournament. He left for New York last night, did he tell you that? Did he!"

"No, god. I'm still lost; I have _no_ idea what you're talking about, Christ."

"He has a team. He never told me about it. Why?"

Evian shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, maybe he doesn't like you?"

"Evian!"

"_What_?"

"He acted _so_ normal! All the way to Wednesday, and he didn't tell me _anything_! He wasn't at school today because he left for New York! Why wouldn't my own best friend tell me that? But he'd tell you, wouldn't he?"

"No. I told you, we don't even talk. He didn't say _anything_ to me. I can understand your shit pissed, but don't take it out on me, seriously. Like, if Miriam or Evelyn did something like that, I'd kill those bitches, I really would, but I wouldn't just show up in your room and like, start screaming in your face."

There was a moment of silence as the redhead registered the things his sister had just said. She was right. But still, he was angry, and he needed someone to be angry at, and like always, Evian was the most vulnerable person to get mad at. She was just so defenseless and it was so easy to get mad at her.

"You should probably go to bed; you have to get up early in the morning tomorrow and be with your team. It's your big day tomorrow," She sounded smart. That was scary. She made sense. That was even more frightening. "If you win tomorrow, you'll get to be in the tournament and have Marshal kiss your ass."

God, she sounded so mature that it _scared _Tala. Nonetheless, that last line was what Tala _really_ needed to hear. Oh he was going to make Marshal kiss his ass, alright! He was going to win that thing tomorrow! Without another word, the redhead left Evian's room.

And as soon as the coast was clear, Evian sighed in relief. _That was too close_. She pulled out the two items from under her pillow. By midnight, everyone else had gone to bed. Evian lay in her bed wide awake.

If Tala and his team won tomorrow, they'd be leaving…

…for good.

She felt a single tear roll down her cheeks. She wiped them with her covers.

That's what had been bugging her, the fact that Tala was going to leave, and she wouldn't have anyone else to talk to.

**x x x **

Evian stirred in her sleep. There was too much noise coming from downstairs, too many voices. She made a noise of frustration. She was extremely sleepy. Was it already 7:30? Was it already time to get up and get prepared for school? She tossed around and looked at the digital clock.

It was five in the morning! Holy Jesus! Who in their right mind would be up so early? And then it hit her. Her brother and his team were going to some competition today, and if they won, they'd be able to enter the world tournament. She sat up in bed and ran her hand through her hair. She rolled out of bed and headed towards the bathroom and proceeded with her regular morning routine.

She felt like wearing a skirt and a nice top today, but it was winter, so it wouldn't make sense to dress so nicely. She'd freeze to death. So she pulled on a pair of jeans and a baby pink full sleeve that was slightly off the shoulders, revealing the straps of the green tank top she had underneath.

She tied her hair into a side ponytail and fixed up her side bangs. Next she applied violet coloured eyeliner around her eyes – violet went nicely with her green eyes. She adorned her eyelashes with a thick coat of black mascara. She fastened a thin silver chain around her neck with a heart locket hanging from it. She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned in satisfaction.

As she made her way to the kitchen, she heard a number of voices. They were all talking at once. Three of those voices she recognized: her mom, her dad, and her brother. The others sounded familiar…to a certain extent, but she couldn't put her finger to it.

She entered the kitchen, and as soon as she did, the voices came to a halt.

Her brain came to a halt. Her brother's _entire_ team was at her house! So _they_ had woken her up so early. They were all eating breakfast, everyone eating something different. Hilary and Mariah were having milk and cereal. Kai and Ray were having blueberry pancakes – and that literally made Evian's mouth water. But what made Evian drool even more was Enrique. Anyways, Tala was having the usual peanut butter and banana sandwich. What was wrong with that guy? It was like he had a fetish with peanut butter and bananas.

She was being hypocritical again. She had a fetish with blueberry pancakes.

"You're up so early, honey," Mrs. MaCaffery said.

"I couldn't sleep." She grabbed an extra chair and sat down beside Enrique. He smiled at her warmly and asked her what she wanted for breakfast. Once she replied, he served her a plate of blueberry pancakes and a glass of chocolate milk.

Tala was unusually quiet however. He was still pissed at Marshal. Evian understood. She didn't know why Marshal would keep such a thing a secret from Tala, his _best_ friend. Marshal and Tala had been friends since elementary school. If Marshal had problems, Tala would be the first person to know, and vice versa.

So, the whole thing about Marshal not informing Tala about a team he was already in was rather shocking. Evian knew Tala wasn't hurt. He never was. Being sad or gloomy was never something that applied to the redhead. She knew exactly how he was feeling: enraged. She knew he just wanted to tear his ex best friend apart – literally.

Breakfast finished by six in the morning. Apparently the team was supposed to leave by seven and arrive at their destination at eight in the morning, sharp, or else the other team competing against them would win by default.

"If Tala wins today, is he going to leave?" Evian looked at her mother. Her brother and his team, along with Mr. MaCaffery, were all in the living room. Evian stayed in the kitchen and helped her mother clean up.

"Leave? For the tournament? Yup! And we'll be seeing him and his team on TV!" Mrs. MaCaffery seemed excited.

"But doesn't that mean he won't be home for Christmas? And dad too."

"Well, that's something we'll have to be prepared for, right honey? And we can celebrate Christmas on our own! I can invite Aunt Thora and Uncle Damien, and we can have a nice dinner together."

Somehow, having dinner with her aunt and uncle just didn't cut it. She didn't care about Christmas. She didn't care about anything else. She just wanted her brother to lose today and stay home so she would have someone she can go and bitch to every time she was pissed or had a problem.

Mr. MaCaffery had rented a van so the entire team could fit in. There was five minutes until seven. Everyone was already in the van, except Tala and Mr. MaCaffery. He was gathering a few last minute items, such as notes, a camera, and the like. Tala was just sort of waiting around, not doing anything really. His sister was on the couch, drinking her second glass of chocolate milk and watching _The Magic School Bus_ on television.

"Evian?"

"Yeah?" She asked, turning down the volume on the television. She turned to the redhead.

"I'm sorry, about yesterday." He looked apologetic. He looked sorry. He _was_ sorry.

"It's okay."

"I was just, you know, really mad. It just doesn't make sense. I don't get why Marshal would 'forget' to tell me something like that. Apparently he had a team three months ago, and they've been training really hard. He's in New York, with his team, competing for a spot in the tournament. I hope he gets it and I hope my teams get a spot too. Then I can _really_ kick his ass."

Evian chuckled, "Good luck for today."

"Thanks," He beamed.

"Tala? Son? Let's go!" Mr. MaCaffery grinned as he showed up in the living room. Tala got up from his seat. He glanced over at the blonde.

"Don't be late for school." And with that, he left with his father.

**x x x **

Instead of eating her lunch like she was supposed to, Evian played around with the sandwich. She wasn't hungry. And no one was here to force her to eat. Evelyn and Miriam had engaged themselves into a conversation Evian wasn't listening to.

Evian was too busy…praying. She didn't want her brother and his team to win today's competition. If he didn't win, he'd be home. If he won, he'd have to leave and only god knows when he'd come back. She didn't want to see her brother on television. She wanted to see him in real life and talk about things that bugged her.

Some of the things at least.

She just needed someone to talk to.

She stood up suddenly.

"Where are you going?" Evelyn questioned the blonde.

"Washroom. I'll be back." Evian left the cafeteria and headed out for smokers' corner. She needed one badly. She needed one to get rid her of frustration. She lit up the cigarette with the pink lighter. There were two other students here, one she recognized from her English class, and the other one two grades lower than her. No one talked. No one said a word. Everyone minded their own business.

Evian didn't return to the cafeteria. She didn't feel like talking to Evelyn and Miriam. She didn't feel like being in school. She just wanted to…

_Run down the streets and just scream._ She exhaled out loudly. She looked at her watch. Lunch was over twenty minutes ago. She couldn't just go back to class. So she skipped parenting and she skipped calculus. She walked home, taking the short cut. It was fairly empty.

It was a long path – but it was still a short cut – with trees on either side of the path. The trees were leafless, covered in snow. The ground she walked on was covered in slush.

Apart from her footsteps, she heard a second pair. She turned around. There was a man, not too far behind. He was tall and he was dressed in black. He had a mask over his face – a clown mask. She could see wisps of orange hair here and there, however. Her heart skipped a beat. What the fuck?

She was nervous, but she turned right around and continued walking, but a little faster this time. Why would someone conceal their face with a mask unless they meant dirty business? She stuffed her hands in her jacket pocket and fiddled with her house keys. Keys could be a good weapon…

She could hear the man behind her pick up his pace. She tried to walk faster. Once she heard the _splish splash_ of the slush very fast from behind her, she knew he was running. She turned around and sure enough, she was right. She started running as well.

This was like a nightmare materializing. She didn't want to be kidnapped! She wanted to live! She did _not_ want to be raped! She did _not_ want to die!

But before she could run any further and save herself, the maniac that was chasing her tackled her to the ground.

Doom was on its way…

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**Feeling Ground – **Jared was the _first_ guy that died, you know, the guy that got his ankle and armpit snipped off. Omfg. I don't even want to think about it. Yeah, my cousins are the reason why it took a while for me to update. God! I hate them! Lol. Thanks for the review!

**Elves-Ate-My-Ramen – **I adore your reviews! No, I'm not just saying that because you asked me, lol. And here's the next chapter! But it was a cliff, I know.

**Crying Sorceress – **Yeah, I was being a bit pushy about the reviews, but I won't lie and I'll admit that I _do_ like the fact that I get a lot of reviews (I sound arrogant here…blah…). And about Evian's character there, yup, there's a lot people don't know about her yet. Ha ha.

**cUt-TilL-aLl-ThE-bLoOd-SeAp... – **Religiously? Lol, are you serious? I feel like God. Lol. I probably shouldn't say that.

**And thanks to the following reviewers as well: **

**Wreckless Spirit **

**Simply Sakura **

**Majirdiu **

**AnimeGirl329 (Girl! Update your stories! WTF!) **

**Lamanth **

**NightPredator **


	11. Chapter 11

_The waves keep on crashing on me for some reason _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Eleven 

Everything seemed like a dream – a horrible dream. Evian couldn't believe it. One minute she was walking home and the next minute, she was being chased by a maniac. What was going on? She was pinned down, her back on the wet snow with the abductor right on top of her, their faces inches away from each other.

"No! No get away from me!" She tried to attack her kidnapper with the pair of keys she had. As a result of nervousness however, she dropped the keys somewhere on the ground. She tried to fight back. Kicking him didn't work. Punching him didn't work either. She tried to spit at his face, but it did nothing to help her since he was wearing a mask. She tried to bite his hands but he was wearing gloves.

She struggled to get free by doing _everything_ she could think of, but she skipped out on the most primary strategy: scream for help. That tactic didn't even come across her mind at the point. The truth was, she was fighting like a girl and she had no chance of beating him.

He was much stronger than her and knew what he was doing. He tried to hold her hands down on the ground, but in the process, he tore off her necklace.

"You know Tala MaCaffery and Kai Hiwatari."

"I don't know them!"

With a swift move, he pulled out a gun and placed it on the blonde's forehead. "I swear I'll kill you if you don't answer me properly!"

She desperately tried to search the ground for her keys. The only thing she felt was snow and dirt. She was so afraid, she wasn't even aware of the fact that her kidnapper knew her brother and her classmate and that he was asking her about them.

"Answer me, bitch!" The man demanded. "I'm giving you five seconds and then you're dead! 5, 4, 3," He was counting down really fast.

"I don't know them! I don't know! I swear!" She was trying to stall for time. "I…I…" She paused. The keys! She felt the keys chime as she lifted it by the keychain. Before the clown-masked man had any time to react, Evian punctured the keys right into the man's thigh; she actually felt the keys goes right through his pants and into his skin. He wailed in pain, dropping his gun, and rolling over to the side, hugging his injured leg.

_Run Evian! Run!_ The manipulative voice inside the blonde ordered her to run. This was her chance. Evian stood up abruptly; she looked back just once before she began running.

**x x x **

The music in the car was _so_ loud, there was a high possibility of the windows shattering. Everyone was happy; everyone was talking all at once.

"So what's the plan? Kai's place tonight?" Tala asked, looking at his rearview mirror to get a glimpse of their expression. Mariah, Hilary, Ray, and Enrique were all squished in the backseat. Kai sat in the passenger seat, resting his head against the window.

"Yeah, but our parents are going to be home today, if you know what I mean." Mariah said. "But we can still have fun!" She grinned. "We deserve it!"

Tala didn't deny it. No one did! They _won_ today's competition, which meant they were on their way to the tournament!

_Which means I might get to face Marshal and his 'team'._ Tala thought. The reflection of his 'best' friend angered him. He didn't know _what_ Marshal was anymore. They grew up together, literally. It wasn't fair. Marshal should've told him that he was already in a team. Was this all part of competition or what?

But what good did it do, to not tell him? It only resulted in anger. But oh well. If that's what Marshal wanted, that's what he was getting.

"Tala! Holy fuck! Watch out!" Kai's sudden outburst caused the entire car to quiet down.

Tala's eyes widened. Some girl just came running out of the bushes that separated the road from the community park. The roads were somewhat icy and he hadn't changed his tires for the season yet! He pressed down on the brake pedal as hard as he could, praying to god he wasn't going to hit the insane blonde idiot that came out of nowhere!

And as if things weren't worse already, the blonde slipped over the frosty road and fell on her butt, landing herself _right_ in front of the car's pathway.

A loud screech – along with several screams – was heard and everything came to a stop.

Mariah, Hilary, Ray, and Enrique were _completely_ shaken up. Kai stared at the redhead. He had _never_ seen Tala so frightened before, not even when they were at the horrendous boarding school together that no one, except their parents, knew about.

He literally looked dead, but alive, if that made _any_ sense at all. His hands were tightly wrapped on the steering wheel. His eyes were glued to the road. The blonde maniac was not visible. The redhead turned his head and looked at Kai.

"Did…I hit her?" His voice was a whisper, barely audible.

"If you did, don't worry, because it won't be your fault, by law I mean, because…" Kai was cut off.

"Did I hit her?" He repeated.

There was silence for a few seconds, "I don't know." Kai answered truthfully. He didn't feel a bump; he didn't feel like the car rode over…a _body_.

"Maybe…we should check." Mariah finally spoke up.

"No, we should just leave. No one saw us." Hilary objected.

"Someone must've seen us! We'll get in big shit!" Ray added. Everyone started talking at once. Everyone started arguing with each other.

Tala couldn't take it anymore. But, instead of telling everyone to shut the fuck up like he wanted to, he got out of the car and daringly walked over to the front of the car.

His mouth fell open.

What the fuck…

"_Evian_?" Tala looked at the blonde. Nervousness was washed away and replaced with anger. What was _wrong_ with his sister? Was she an idiot? Probably! Was she on pills? Was she on drugs? For the love of god, what the _hell_ was with her? He yanked her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "Are you fucking retarded?" He shook her hard. "What the fuck!"

Most of her hair was all wet and muddy. Most of her clothes were damp. "What the fuck is wrong with you! Don't you understand? I would've fucking killed you! This is the _road_! You don't just -"

"Tala…"

The redhead looked beyond his sister and stared at the slate-haired teen. "_What_?"

"You know what…" Kai motioned towards the blonde with his eyes. It was so weird how Kai would say such few words and in such ways, but everyone was able to understand him.

Tala looked back at his sister. She had a terrified expression on her face. She looked as if she just had a near death experience…which she did. However, he didn't know that she had _two_ in a row. She was trembling – _literally_. He could actually feel her shudder under his grip, right through her winter jacket.

That's when other questions made their way into Tala's head: why _was_ Evian running so fast? Why was she in such a hurry?

What was she running from?

"Why are you such a mess?" He questioned, in a more gentle tone this time. He _knew_ his sister. She would _never_ stay calm knowing she had dirt in her hair and on her clothes. "What? What happened? Tell me."

She turned her head and pointed at the bushes, "He…he…he…" Oh god, why couldn't she speak? Only the first word of what she wanted to say came out, but nothing else did. "Tall…_he_…he was tall…like this…this tall…clown…he, he, he…was a clown…a…a mask! Gun…right here…" She pointed towards her forehead. Her eyes became watery without warning, and before he knew it, thousands of tears were falling out at all at once but she continued with her gibberish and stuttered on almost every word she uttered, "A gun…and, and, and, and," She paused and went completely hysterical, "And, and…and he…he…"

She wiped her tear-stained face angrily; she was angry with herself, for not being able to say what she really wanted. She was completely tongue tied. She tried to force herself, "There! There!" She crazily jumped up and down and pointed towards the bushes and trees.

Back in the car, everyone looked somewhat frightened by Evian's odd behaviour. Sure she was extremely girly and very 'out there' sometimes, but she wasn't mental or anything.

"I think what she's trying to say is," Ray started, "Someone was trying to _kill_ her or something. She mentioned a gun."

But by now, everyone had figured _that_ out. "Evian! Evian, relax!" The redhead held his sister tightly, "Calm down." She wanted to say something, but he shut her up, "Listen to me, okay? I'm going to kick his ass, okay? I swear, I'll kick his fucking balls. Where is he?" He looked at where Evian was pointing. He started pacing towards her indicated direction.

"Tala, your sister said he had a gun, I don't think it's safe. We should just go home and call the cops or better yet, go the nearest police station and make a report." Kai interfered.

"Some jackass had the balls to fucking touch my sister! You're saying we should just _leave_?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying or that 'jackass' might try to kill you. He's got a weapon, what do you have? How are you planning to save yourself? Or better yet, how are you planning to protect your _sister_?"

When Kai put it that way, it made a lot of sense. Tala looked back at his sister. He was still angry – not with her, but with her supposed attacker. Nonetheless, he took Kai's advice.

"Not all of us are going to fit in the car," Kai started again, being the voice of reason, "Me, Ray, and Enrique are going to wait in that corner store because it's safer than being out here. You take your sister, Mariah, and Hilary to your place, and then pick us up, and we'll call the police from there."

And so the plan initiated. First the girls were dropped off at the MaCaffery residence, and then Tala picked up the other guys from the convenience store they were waiting at. Once back home, Tala called his parents at work and told them what happened and asked them to come home. He called the police next while his sister sat in between him and Mariah and literally held on to them like a leech.

" – no, I don't know what he looks like; hold on, let me ask my sister," Tala turned to his sister, "They wanna know what this guy looks like,"

"I don't really know; he was wearing a mask. But he had orange hair, I think. He was a bit taller than me, your height, or Kai's height, something like that. He had like, black jeans on, you know, the _Rocawear_ kind," She paused to think, "He had a black _Ripzone_ jacket, and that's all I remember."

The redhead stared at his sister for a few seconds; her girly-ness and extensive knowledge on fashion actually came in handy. But the fact that she remembered even the brand names was brilliant!

He gave the police officer the information he obtained from his sister. A few other questions he was able to answer himself, but when the police officer asked him something Tala did not think about before, he was slightly stunned: how did his sister, who weighed no more than ninety-seven pounds and had the figure of a model, manage to outrun a kidnapper with a gun?

"My keys, I kind of like, stabbed him with my keys or something," Then realization hit her, "Oh my god…oh my god!" She covered her mouth with her hands.

"What? _What_? Evian!"

"He…he has my keys! Oh my god! He has the keys to this house! Oh my god! Oh my god! He knows where I live! He knows me! He's going to kill me! Oh my god! He has my keys!"

"Wait! Okay! He knows you? Wait, how does he know you?"

"I don't know! He knows you too!"

"_What_!" Tala looked at his sister like she was crazy.

"He knows Kai too! Oh my god! He asked me if I knew Tala and Kai – he knew your last names too! Oh my god! He's going to kill us! He has a gun! He's going to kill me when I'm sleeping or something!"

Tala and Kai exchanged looks. This was strange…and scary. The BBA tournament was starting in just a few days and someone went after Evian and asked them if she knew about Tala and Kai? Why?

Unless…

No! It couldn't be! They were pulled out of the boarding school years ago! It must've been someone else!

Tala tried to get out _every_ little detail out of his sister, and Kai seemed equally interested since it appeared that he might have been involved in this situation. Mr. and Mrs. MaCaffery arrived home soon, hugging and kissing their daughter like there was no tomorrow and asking her a million times if she was okay.

Two police vehicles made their way to the MaCaffery residence. They changed all the locks in the house and gave the family a new set of keys. A formal report was made of the attempted kidnapping and that was it.

The police promised to drive by the neighbourhood three times during the night incase anything else happened.

Nothing _did_ happen.

Kai and Tala got a ride to school from Mr. MaCaffery, and they were also told to stay in school until Mr. MaCaffery showed up to pick them up from school. However, Evian didn't go to school at all after the incident. Instead, she stayed home with her mother, who volunteered to stay with her.

But that didn't mean they weren't being watched…from afar.

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**It has come to my attention that one of my reviewers thought Marshal (Tala's best friend from school) was on his team. This scares me…did I confuse any other reviewers? My writing is SO confusing. Anyways, THESE are the people on Tala's team: **

Kai

Mariah

Hilary

Ray

Enrique

And Tala (team captain) and his dad is the coach of the team, k?

**And thx to the following reviewers! **

****

**EAMR **

**HeartlessDevil **

**Crying Sorceress (we can be like, arrogant partners in crime or something, lol, if that made any sense at all) **

**cUt-TilL-aLl-ThE-bLoOd-SeAp… **

**NightPredator **

**Caliecookie1991 **

**AnimeGirl329 (You biatch! You didn't update COTB!) **

**Simple Sakura **

**Bratty-randa **

**Majirdiu **

**Wreckless Spirit **

**Lamanth **

**! I can't believe I've go 78 reviews! I feel AWESOME! You guys rock my sox! **


	12. Chapter 12

_You came in with the breeze on Sunday morning. _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Twelve 

A week had gone by since the attempted kidnapping incident. Evian had become extremely quiet, and maybe that was due to the event that had taken place – that's what Tala thought, but little did he know, there was a completely different reason for her sudden muteness. She was in her room most of the time. She didn't use the phone as often as she did before. And her eating habits went from bad to worse.

Nonetheless, Tala was tensioning over other things…like the fact that his flight for Phoenix, Arizona was _tomorrow_! For their first tournament! Holy crap! _And_, as captain of the team, he was supposed to finish several forms and waivers and the deadline for those were tomorrow! The forms asked all sorts of things such as who the team captain was, the name of the team, personal information on each member of the team, and so on.

And as if that wasn't _enough_ problems already, Kai had called the entire team over to his house upon frustration because of the stupidest reason: he hadn't finished packing and he had no idea how to fold clothes and put them in a suitcase.

Yeah, even his own girlfriend called him an idiot for that one.

Nonetheless, the team ended up showing up at Kai's place and Tala decided since everyone was helping Kai pack his stuff, they could help him finish all the forms as well. It was like killing two birds with one stone.

Yeah, totally cliché.

But, in order to go to Kai's house, Tala was forced to drag along his sister since Mr. and Mrs. MaCaffery went out for a formal dinner and they didn't want Evian staying home alone…just to be on the safe side.

So he did, he brought along his sister and told her to sit downstairs and watch television while he and his teammates settled out some important stuff.

"Okay, we need a team name guys," Tala looked at everyone else from the bed, where he was situated. Kai was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall with Hilary on his lap – typical; Enrique wasn't really doing anything either, he was just counting dust particles in the air; it seemed as if the only two productive people were Ray and Mariah, who were literally packing Kai's stuff for him. Kai was so spoiled, and he was probably spoon-fed until he reached puberty. Jesus.

"How about…" Like always, Enrique was the first to blurt something out, "The Italian Ass Kickers!"

Everyone stared at him in dismay. "I'm not Italian…" Mariah commented.

"Neither am I." Ray added in a matter-of-factly kind of way.

"That, and I don't think we can have the word 'ass' in a BBA team name, Enrique," Tala concluded. "Anyways…"

"Skip over the team name, we can do it later. Let's finish the other stuff the form asks us." Hilary voiced her opinion.

Everyone else nodded in agreement. "Fine," Tala said scanning over the sheets, "Okay, anyone have any medical issues?"

"I have asthma." Ray said.

"And Kai gets nosebleeds sometimes." Mariah added.

"Okay and I'm allergic to bees…" Tala said, quickly scribbling everything down very messily. If those BBA people couldn't read his writing, they'd just have to deal with it. No one else had any other issues so he proceeded with the other questions. "We need a vice captain."

Everyone was silent. Everyone looked at everyone.

"Me, I think I should be vice captain." Hilary spoke first.

"Why?" Tala questioned.

"What do you mean why? Why are _you_ captain?" She countered.

"I don't know, ask my dad…" Tala said.

"Kai should be captain," Enrique grinned and glanced over at the slate-haired teen who looked somewhat astonished. Kai? Vice captain? Why?

"I'm fine with that," Tala said. "He's got a brain." A few people chuckled, but the statement was true. Kai probably held more knowledge then all his teammates combined. He was a genius and no one denied that. His only flaw was his laziness.

"I'm gonna go get a drink, anyone want anything?" Kai asked, motioning for Hilary to move to he could get up.

"Get me a drink too, there's fruit punch in the fridge." Mariah said, "Oh, with ice please!" She grinned.

"Yeah, I'd like one too," Ray said. Everyone else seemed to want _something_. Kai headed downstairs. His parents were…somewhere. His mom hated being at home; she always needed to go outside. Maybe that's where Kai got his claustrophobia from, from his mother. Damn genetics. He made his way downstairs and was slightly startled once he realized Evian was there. He forgot she was even at his house.

She looked bored to death. She was flipping the channels on television. She was slumped in her seat with a blank expression.

"You can uh, go upstairs if you want," He offered as he walked past the living room.

"Really?" She looked _delighted_ by the offer. She turned off the television and grinned. "Upstairs?"

"Yeah, first room." He smiled politely even though he didn't want to. The preppy bitch was not to be smiled at! But he couldn't help it, he was a polite person…he was raised with manners.

He entered the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Do you need any help?" The sudden voice scared the shit out of him. He turned around to see the slim blonde girl poking her head into the kitchen. At this point in time, it was impossible to picture her crying. She was such a jovial person. And her blonde hair made it even harder for him to picture her in low spirits; blondes and tears just didn't mix.

But the way he _did_ picture Evian was strange, though. He pictured her dancing in the rain, but not in a dirty or sexual way. He pictured her wearing a yellow raincoat that reached her knees, pink rain boots, and a simple black umbrella. And for some reason, he could also picture her holding a teddy bear in there somewhere.

"No, its okay, I got it, thanks."

"Are you sure?" She asked once again, stepping into the kitchen.

He thought about it. There were five people upstairs, and six including him. How the hell was he supposed to carry six glasses of fruit punch with just two hands? "Actually…I might need _some_ help."

"Okay! What do I do?" She asked, pacing towards him and leaning over the counter. He got out the pitcher of fruit punch.

"Do you want any?" He asked.

"Does it have alcohol in it?" She wrinkled her nose as she stared at the reddish-pink liquid.

"No; why? Do you want some? I think my mom keeps some in the basement."

She looked at him like he had ten heads. "Of course not! I don't drink."

"Alright, anyways, pour this into seven glasses. I'll get the ice from the freezer." He said. She nodded. She did as she was told, spilling literally half the juice on the counter as she did so. She wasn't exactly use to this; she hardly did housework at home. It was usually her mom and her brother who did most of the cleaning.

Kai watched the blonde from the corner of his eyes and unconsciously grinned; Evian's clumsiness and stupidity didn't bother him, in fact, he enjoyed it, it was hilarious, it was free entertainment. It was amusing to see her tiptoe over the counter and try to be as careful as she could while she was transferring the fruit punch from the pitcher into each glass. However, he hated her at the same time. It was strange.

Nonetheless, he was being hypocritical. He wasn't much of a housework kind of person either. Heck, he didn't even know where the paper towels were, hence, he used toilet paper from the washroom to wipe up the counter.

"Uh, okay, you carry three glasses, and I'll carry four," Kai said, "Somehow…"

"Don't you have a tray?"

There was silence in the kitchen for eternity. Well, actually, it was just a couple of seconds. A tray…why didn't he think of that before? Christ.

"I think so; my mom keeps that kind of stuff in the cupboards." And once he checked, sure enough he found himself a tray worthy of carrying seven glasses filled with fruit punch. Now _he_ felt like a moron.

Evian and Kai placed the glasses on the tray; however, once it was time to get them upstairs, Kai _really_ didn't trust Evian to take them upstairs in one peace, so he did.

At first, Evian felt a bit odd entering a room she had never entered before. She felt unwanted once she caught a glimpse of Hilary looking at Kai disappointedly, but that unwelcoming sensation was taken away once the others smiled at her warmly and gave her that friendly feeling.

"Ev, do you have any ideas for a team name?" Tala questioned and patted the empty space beside him, motioning for her to sit there next to him.

She took her seat and thought for a minute and came out empty. No, she did not have any ideas. In fact, she was thinking about something else.

"What's your favourite candy?" Tala asked.

"Skittles," She answered, taking a sip from her non-alcoholic fruit drink.

"That's it!" The redhead grinned, "The Skittles! How about that guys?"

"I like it," Enrique grinned.

"The Skittles? _The Skittles_?" Hilary repeated. "Are you insane? I don't want my team to be named after your sister's favourite candy."

"But I like Skittles too…" Kai leaned his head against the brunette. Hilary sighed.

"I also like Starburst, but if you say _The Starburst_, it sounds super weird," Evian commented, "Besides, Skittles are _so_ cute! Plus, they have less fat."

Her first statement was logical, but her second statement about fat was uncalled for. Ray shook his head, Mariah simply chuckled; their team captain's sister was impossible.

But the team named was agreed on and a few hours later, the forms were completed, and Kai's things were packed.

Ray, Enrique, and Hilary all asked for a ride home since Tala was the only one who had a car. While the rest of them talked to Kai and Mariah at the door, Evian noticed something shiny dangling from the rearview mirror of her brother's car. That thing hadn't been there when she and her brother got to Kai's place.

"Our flight's at six in the morning but we gotta be at the airport by 5:30, latest," Tala explained. "Everyone's gotta be at my place before five because my dad rented a van so we could all be at the airport together, k?" Everyone nodded. "And just incase someone's late, we're on for flight 182, remember that."

"So we'll see you guys tomorrow then," Ray said. Mariah and Kai nodded. Everyone finished with their goodbyes and paced towards the car.

"I can't believe we're going to the tournament!" Enrique said, opening the door to the car and getting in. Hilary sat beside him and then Ray got in.

Evian sat in the passenger seat and quickly examined the shiny thing she observed a few seconds ago. As she realized what they were, her eyes widened and she had a panic-stricken expression.

"What's that?" Tala asked, ready to put the car keys into the ignition.

Evian turned her head and stared at her brother, "My house keys…"

Before Tala could even _say_ anything, Hilary screamed from her seat and pointed at the rearview mirror.

Evian went pale as she looked at the mirror. Not too far from behind the car stood the masked man that had attacked her a week ago. He was holding a gun, aiming right for them.

"Oh fuck! Get out of the car!" And as soon as Ray said that, a few gun shots was heard and the back window shattered on the three teens in the backseat. Nonetheless, Ray was the first one to get out of the car, followed by Hilary and Tala, and then Enrique. Kai and Mariah opened their front door and let them inside and then quickly locked it.

"What the fuck was that man? What the _fuck_ was that?" Tala questioned. He looked around him and realization hit him. "Holy fuck! Evian! She's still in the car!"

"You can't go back outside!" Kai warned. "He's got a gun!"

"I don't fucking care!" As the redhead tried to get out of the house, everyone else tried to stop him. First of all, everyone was shit scared and no one wanted to die, second, who knew if Evian was still alive or not?

Tala ran towards the door, ready to open it.

"Are you crazy? You're going to get us all killed!" Hilary screamed. But that didn't stop Tala. He opened the door slightly, only to have a bullet fly right past him, scaring him to death. He shut the door with a slam trying to think of another way to get to Evian.

Back in the car, Evian was literally paralyzed, but she was alive. She could hear her own heartbeat and she actually thought it was going to blow up or something. But that wasn't her major concern. She was alone in the car and who _knew_ where that maniac was right now! She had slouched down in her seat, concealing herself from view.

She could hear the glass and possibly ice crunching under the person's step. She gasped. She could feel a few tears slide down her cheeks uncontrollably. She couldn't remember the last time she was so scared.

Suddenly, the footsteps stopped and things went dead quiet.

_Too_ quiet.

Evian turned her head and looked out her window.

"Boo."

She screamed as she realized the man was _right_ beside her, gun in his hands, ready to kill her. She turned the other way and tried to crawl out of the car from the driver's side.

Back in the house, Kai peeked out the curtains and called the police on his cell phone. Meanwhile, Tala was in the kitchen opening _every_ single drawer.

"Knives, Mariah, don't you guys have knives?"

"What are you planning?"

"What do you _think_ I'm planning? Fuck man," He bent down and opened the drawers under the sink. "Bingo…" He grabbed the largest knife he could find, one that was long and looked quite sharp.

Back outside in the Hiwatari-Wong's driveway, the man pulled open the passenger door and grabbed Evian by the leg. Evian felt the man pull her the opposite way, away from possible safety. She moved her legs around, trying to get free. She screamed, telling him to let her go when she _knew_ he wasn't going to.

Just when she gave up and believed she was actually going to die, she spotted the car keys down by the gas pedals. Tala must've dropped them or something when he ran out of the car. God, she really wished he was here right now. He was brave! A lot braver than her! He'd know exactly what to do!

_Last chance._ That was what her inner voice said. Was this really her last chance? She was able to escape her attacker last time; maybe she could do it again.

Before Tala could leave the house and initiate with his 'knife-the-clown' plan, he was stopped once he heard the engine of a car starting up. He scurried towards the window, where Kai was, and peeked outside.

As soon as Evian turned the keys in the ignition, she didn't waste any time. She pulled the gear in reverse and pressed down on the gas pedal with her hands and turned the steering wheel with her other hand without being able to look at where she was going, praying to god she wouldn't crash into anything. The vehicle zoomed backwards and out of the driveway.

Evian wiped her face with her jacket and pulled herself into the driver's seat and shifted the gear on drive. She pressed down on the gas pedals with her feet and prepared to drive off, far from the area.

As she did, however, she noticed a black van right in front of her. She let out a scream, swerved the car out of the way avoiding the on-head collision with the van, but ended up smashing the Toyota into a tree instead.

The black van made its way towards the masked man and he hopped on quickly once the doors slid open, and then, in full speed, the van sped off.

Tala watched the Toyota in horror. He wasn't worried about the car, not at all, only an idiot would be worried about a cheap car at this point. The coast _seemed_ clear, so he dropped the knife on the ground and headed outside, running towards the completely trashed vehicle.

"Evian!"

There was no reply.

"Ev!"

He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt like throwing up. She wasn't…_dead_…was she?

He refused to believe that. He reached the car and peered into the driver seat from the window.

Once he realized she was perfectly fine, he sighed in relief. He couldn't remember the last time he was _this_ happy to see his sister. Nonetheless, she looked like she was going to piss her pants or something. She looked terrified, and once she noticed his presence, she opened the door and threw herself onto the redhead like a mad person. He picked her up kept his arms around her tightly. He couldn't believe he was _this_ close to actually losing his sister.

He never realized how much he actually loved her until now. He was her armour and she was his heart – _literally_.

She buried her face in his neck and began crying uncontrollably just like the time in second grade when one of her 'friends' didn't invite her over for an all girls sleepover party.

Tala felt extremely guilty. He couldn't believe he had just left her in the car to save his own life. Did he do it intentionally? Probably not. Everyone was getting out of the car, so he assumed she did as well. He shouldn't have. He was an idiot for doing so! He was an ass hole! "I'm sorry…"

The police finally showed up and Kai took the initiative to explain what really happened. Everyone's parents came as well, some of them crying, realizing just how much their children really meant to them.

Mr. and Mrs. MaCaffery weren't so pleased by the effort the police put forth to capture the culprit from earlier this week.

"I understand sir," The police officer remained calm; "We're trying our best."

"No, no you're _not_ trying your best. My son and daughter were almost killed tonight!" Mr. MaCaffery fumed. "By the same man! Nothing has been done to prevent it!"

"Sir, I understand." The police officer repeated. Despite that, Mr. and Mrs. MaCaffery continued arguing with the cop.

Hilary's father had taken her home about an hour after the police had arrived. Ray's older brother cussed at the police officers a few times before taking him home. Enrique's parents were probably the most emotional, especially his mother.

The cops questioned Kai, Mariah, Tala, and Evian the most.

The cop looked at the blonde and smiled, "That was very clever of you, what you did, in order to save your life."

"Really?" Evian asked.

The police officer nodded, "Very impressive."

Evian grinned. She loved recognition. Too bad her parents weren't here to listen to it. But oh well.

The cop looked over at Tala, "You've got yourself a fighter sister here, hmm?"

"Yeah, I guess." The redhead shrugged. He was just glad to have his sister back. The cop chuckled.

"Anyways, we hear that you have a plane to catch tomorrow, early in the morning, so we'll let you go. As for your sister, we will be dropping by frequently, and for the first week, we'll give her a ride to school and a ride back home. We'll see how that goes, sounds good?"

Tala, Evian, Kai, and Mariah all nodded.

Mr. and Mrs. MaCaffery took the twins home by midnight. Once home, Evian asked to sleep with her mother, and she did, but that didn't necessarily mean she slept well, knowing the police hadn't caught the man yet and he could be _anywhere_.

**x x x **

The purple-haired man put the phone back to its receiver and exhaled out loudly in disappointment. He murmured a few things before turning back to face the five teenagers that stood before him.

The first one to speak was the brown haired boy, "So? What happened? Did Brooklyn do it?"

The purple haired man shook his head in dismay, "No, Marshal, your team captain did not," He paused for a second to contemplate, "No, we don't have enough information on Tala and Kai – that's why we are having such a difficult time. We need more data, more information. Marshal,"

"Yes, Boris?"

"Go dig up their files,"

"Yes, Boris,"

"And even without their files, you should be able to tell me _more_ than I want to know about Tala,"

"Yes," The brunette looked down.

"Go on now, and we will not delay our plan any longer. We _will_ get Wolborg and Dranzer and we _will_ get Kai and Tala."

The team nodded in understanding. They were then dismissed from the chamber.

_Kai and Tala…enjoy your last days._ Marshal inwardly smirked as he walked down the hallway to the filing room.

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**Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing! Whoever guessed ****Brooklyn****, you're right! I think I confused some readers with the last part though. Anyways, thanks to everyone who reviewed, I can't mention anyone here right now because my dad is like, pulling me off the computer. Help. R and R! **

**PS: IF YOU ARE CONFUSED, TELL ME, BIATCH! ...yes...**


	13. Chapter 13

_When I wake up early in the morning, lift my head, I'm still yawning... _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Thirteen 

Evian stirred in her sleep. What was all that noise? It was bothersome! And she needed her sleep. She opened her eyes slightly and once the surroundings looked slightly unfamiliar, she sat up in bed.

_Oh_. She looked around. She was in her parents' room. Now she remembered. She was sleeping with her mom because of what happened last night. And then she remembered about today. _Tala's leaving!_ She looked at the time. 4:57 AM!

She recalled what he told his friends last night. Their flight was at six in the morning, but they were to be at the airport at 5:30! That meant they…left already?

NO!

She jumped out of the large bed and ran downstairs in her PJs.

"Mom! Mom! _MOM_!"

"Honey, I'm in the kitchen! Why are you up so early? You hardly got any sleep last night! You need your rest. Oh, and look at you, you have bags under your eyes." Mrs. MaCaffery stood by the kitchen entrance with a cloth in her hands.

"Did he leave?" She asked hysterically.

"Your brother and your dad? They _just_ left! And they're running late as well. Don't worry, your father kissed you goodbye while you were asleep and Tala told me to tell you that he also said goodbye and to wish him luck."

She wanted to cry. She _really_ wanted to cry. That was it? They just left? Everyone just left so informally and she didn't get a chance to tell her father and her brother goodbye?

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the front door. Mrs. MaCaffery and Evian looked at each other for a few seconds.

"I wonder who that could be," Mrs. MaCaffery said, walking towards the door. Evian followed. Mrs. MaCaffery opened the door.

"Hey mom, sorry, I left all the plane tickets at home!" Tala said, running into the house and upstairs to his room to fetch the tickets. He came back downstairs, surprised to see his sister up _so_ early.

"The world is coming to an end!" He teased. Nonetheless, he noticed Evian's gloomy expression. "If you wanna say something, you gotta say it fast, Ev, I have to leave! If we miss our flight, everyone's going to kill me!"

"I don't want you to leave,"

Mrs. MaCaffery chuckled and patted her daughter's head, "Aw, that's so sweet,"

"No, I'm not being sweet, I'm being serious," She whined.

"Honey, you brother _has_ to leave; he has a competition to win, right?" Mrs. MaCaffery chuckled. But that didn't make Evian feel better. In fact, it made her feel worse, especially when her mother said he _had _to leave. Why? Why did he have to leave? It was just some stupid tournament. He could just stay home and watch the tournament from television!

"But I don't _want_ him to go," She spoke. She felt a tantrum well on its way. God sucked! God was unfair! God hated her! Stupid God! "He can go next year. Besides, he'll miss school, and…" She tried to think of more excuses. Oh who was she kidding? His flight was today! He was going to leave!

She just wanted to tear something – or someone – apart. Literally. She wanted to smash all the kitchen plates against a wall! She wanted to run around the streets in her bra and underwear and scream her lungs out. No! She didn't want him to leave! She always had things her way! She wanted things her way!

If he left, she wouldn't have anyone to talk to. She _needed_ someone to talk to. It wasn't fair! She failed to halt the tears that made their way down her cheeks. She felt her mother embrace her, "Aw, honey, he'll be back."

"But I don't want him to go!"

"Hey Tala, you're dad's…oh…" Kai stepped into the house and then just stopped. He looked at Mrs. MaCaffery and then at Tala who mouthed an 'I'm coming'. Kai looked over at the sobbing blonde. Seeing her cry was like seeing fish fly. It didn't make any sense. Blondes weren't supposed to cry. Preppy bitches weren't supposed to cry.

Evian wasn't supposed to cry. She looked like a little girl, like a five year old.

"I'll be in the van, and I'll tell your dad about…_this_," Kai said, leaving the house again.

"Ev, I'll be back before you know it," Tala said. He put an arm around the blonde. "Really."

"Can you go later? Tomorrow, can you go tomorrow?"

"Evian, I have to go _today_, and look, I'm already late."

"No, no, no, no, no! Please stay!" She grasped onto the redhead by throwing her arms around his neck. "Please, please, please, please, please!"

"I can't,"

"Evian, your brother's going to miss his plane."

"I _want _him to miss his plane!"

"Evian! Let go of your brother!"

"_No_!"

"Evian! I swear I'll be back really soon! Besides, I might even be home _before_ Christmas if we're a sucky team! I'll call you everyday! We can talk over the phone! But right now I have to go!" In all honesty, Tala was fairly afraid. Evian was holding on to him pretty tightly; what if she didn't let him go? He didn't want to push her off or something. He didn't want things to get ugly, not right before he left.

Mrs. MaCaffery started pulling at her daughter. "Honey, your brother has to catch his plane and you have to let him go. You're acting like an animal, c'mon."

"No! I don't want him to go! He doesn't have to go!" She was acting panic-stricken and completely out of control again. "Please stay! Please stay! Please stay!"

"Evian, I _can't_."

"Why!"

"Because my team needs me!"

Once she heard that, she shoved him away from her, not because she realized that he really did have to go and that his team _did_ need him, but because she was angered. His _team_ needed him? That's why he wanted to go? What about _her_? Wasn't she supposed to be his _first_ priority?

She was _disgusted_! She was…jealous!

She wanted to…rip him apart! She wanted to pull out his organs and feed them to a Mexican dog!

She couldn't believe it. He was selfish! That's all he was! His friends were more important to him than _her_.

Fine! She got the point! He didn't want her around! She wasn't stupid, even though people thought she was. Fine! He could leave! She wasn't going to stop him!

Maybe that's why he left her in the car yesterday, to save his ass, and left her to fend for herself. She didn't like him anymore.

He lied. He told her _she_ was his first concern. He said she was more important than his stupid team! And that he'd 'be there' for her when she needed to talk.

Liar!

"Ev, I need to go…" Tala looked at his sister and waited for an answer.

"Okay," She said, and that was followed by a sudden outburst, "I hope your plane crashes!"

With that, she ran upstairs and locked herself in her room.

Tala looked at his mother one last time, "Mom I have to go,"

"I know honey, Evian will be fine. You know how she is, she overreacts sometimes; she'll get over it." Mrs. MaCaffery sighed. "You know how she is," She repeated. Tala nodded. He hugged his mother for a final time. "I want you to have fun, don't stress yourself."

"Okay mom," He smiled as his mother kissed his forehead. He left the house once again and got into the van. He waved at his mother. He looked up at Evian's room. She wasn't even looking from her window. Oh well.

By 5:30, The Skittles were at the airport just like they had planned. Kai and Hilary were having one of their mushy conversations and that was followed by a make out session that rest of the team didn't need to see. Ray, Mariah, and Enrique were playing cards.

Tala was on the phone. He called home a million times already, trying to talk to Evian at least _once_ before his flight.

"Is she still in her room?"

"No, she's eating breakfast," Mrs. MaCaffery answered. "Let me see if she wants to talk to you _now_. Evian! Your brother's on the phone for you!"

Tala waited and heard something that sounded like 'I hope he dies!' from the other end of the phone. He frowned. Now Evian was getting plain annoying. All he wanted to do was talk to his sister and apologize, was that a crime?

And he didn't even know what he was apologizing for! What the fuck!

"Fine, look mom, I have to go, just tell her I said sorry anyway." Tala said.

"Alright honey, be safe!"

"I will, bye mom." He flipped the cell phone closed. Mariah looked over from her spot.

"No luck?"

"She's being a bitch." Tala rolled his eyes. "Probably on her period or something, god."

Mariah laughed. "She just needs some time,"

"Yeah, she needs some _time_ to plan out ways to make my life miserable until the day I move out."

**x x x **

It was the beginning of second period, and while everyone scrambled to get to their classes, Evian exited the school building and headed towards her newfound hangout: smokers' corner.

Skipping class was wrong, but was the point of going to a class when you were already failing and you knew you weren't capable of pulling your marks up to even a passing grade?

She lit up the cigarette and leaned against the fence. A few other students were also there, some smoking, some getting high off weed, and others doing other substances.

She thought about last night. It was hard to believe she was on the verge of being _killed_ last night. Girls like her weren't supposed to get into issues like that. It must have been some kind of sicko trying to get some or something. All kidnappers were sickos.

But why then, did this 'sicko' know her brother and Kai? _Maybe he was just stalking me for a really long time…and that's why he knows them and it's his way of scaring me._

But whatever, there was tight security all around her now so the 'sicko' would probably never show up. But then she remembered the black van that nearly hit her yesterday. What the hell was going on?

Whatever it was, she just _didn't_ want to be involved. Things were so weird now.

She thought about this morning. Yeah, talk about weird; the house would be so empty and quiet without the presence of her dad and Tala now.

Heck…who needs Tala anyway? _Not me_.

Dumb ass.

She could take care of herself. She was seventeen. Whatever. Besides, she was older than him…by just two minutes, but _still_, she was older. Why should _she_ depend on him anyway? _I don't._ Yes she did. It should have been the other way around; he should depend on _her_.

And she should've been the smarter one.

She should've been the one who got more attention.

_She_ should've been her parents' favourite.

Not him.

She dropped the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair! Yes she was a jealous person, so what? Everyone was jealous! No one admitted it! She _hated_ Tala! She wanted to be _better _than him! She wanted to be the 'good' twin!

He had everything and he didn't even have to work for it! He had the brain! He had the friends! He had the looks! Well, so did she apparently. According to their relatives and family friends, they were the most adorable twins _ever_…especially when they used to wear colour coordinated clothing when they were much younger.

Once she heard the bell ring, indicating it was time for lunch, she made her way back into the school and went into the cafeteria.

"Where's your lunch, babe?" Evelyn questioned.

"I'm not hungry," The blonde answered.

"Dieting?" Miriam asked. Evian shook her head.

"Hey," Evelyn eyed the blonde suspiciously. "You smell like cigarettes," The blonde remained quiet. "Ev!"

"What! I only had like, one this entire week!" She lied.

"You _smoke_?" Miriam's eyes widened.

"Don't tell Tala – or anyone else. Besides, I'm not like addicted to it or anything. I have very little. It's just so I can maintain my weight and stuff." Evelyn and Miriam nodded in understanding.

"So Tala left?" Miriam changed the subject.

"Yeah, in the morning,"

"And he dragged Mr. Hot-As-Fuck with him! Damn!" Miriam cursed.

"Yeah, well now Tala's gone too! God, Evian, if _I_ was his sister, I'd probably still date him."

Evian made a face, "Ew, please, don't talk about my brother's 'hotness' in front of me, it makes me feel weird."

"Ew Evelyn! You'd date your brother if he was hot?" Miriam looked disgusted. "That's like so wrong…"

"Well I can't help it if I'm attracted to him, god," Evelyn took a sip out of her fruit drink, "Besides, I have this really hot cousin from my dad's side."

"The one you made out with over the summer by the beach?" Evian raised an eyebrow. Evelyn nodded.

"Your brother _is_ still single, right Ev? I mean, he's just the hottest thing ever! And Kai. God, who said it was illegal to get married to two men anyway? Wait, is there such law?"

Once Evelyn asked that question, an entire debate took place between the three. Miriam kept bringing up the issues of STDs and AIDS and all that jazz, Evelyn kept telling Miriam that if a guy was hot, nothing mattered, and Evian kept telling them that if they didn't stop talking about her brother in such a…uh…_sexual_ way, she'd puke.

"Sleeping with two men at the same time is gross!" Miriam went on, "It's like, oh my god, sleeping with your dad or something!"

"Okay, _that_ was uncivilized." Evelyn wrinkled her nose. "Besides, I didn't say I was going to sleep with Tala and Kai at the _same_ time, stupid," She rolled her eyes, "It will be like one night is dedicated to Kai, and the next night is set aside for Tala. See? It works out perfectly!"

Evian went pale. She needed to get out of here before she fainted or something. Ew, ew, _ew_! Nonetheless, the discussion went on and by the end of lunch, Evian _really_ wished she had stayed home today or something.

**x x x **

Tala glanced over at Kai, who _really_ didn't look so well. He was like hyperventilating or something and looked like he was going to pass out any second now. "Air sickness?" He questioned Mariah.

She sighed, "No, claustrophobia. I think he got it from his mom or something; didn't you notice? My step mom is _hardly_ home, she's almost always outside. She can't stand being at home doing nothing."

"Oh," Tala said. Kai and Hilary were sitting together – obviously – by the window seats. Hilary kept telling Kai they were almost there when in fact they were _hours_ away from their destination. Nonetheless, Kai was still fidgety and wanted to get out of the plane.

Ray and Enrique were fast asleep in the seat behind Kai and Hilary. Mariah and Tala sat across from Kai and Hilary. Mr. MaCaffery was…somewhere on the plane. However, Tala didn't really like his seat; he was getting peeved by the man that sat next to him. He was…large, and his extremely loud snoring needed to stop before Tala could think of a way to murder the man. Mariah watched as Tala fished something out of his pockets.

"Pink?" Mariah chuckled.

"Don't ask, it's my sister's," Tala said examining the contents in the _pink _iPod he had 'borrowed' from his sister before he left for the tournament, "She'll kill me when she finds out I took it without asking,"

"Yeah, and since she's _already_ really pissed off…"

"Don't remind me," The redhead sighed, scanning through all the music files in the MP3 player. Predictably, Evian was into upbeat, fast kind of music and artists such as The Killers, Black Eyed Peas, The Strokes, a _lot_ of Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, some dance music and the like filled up the iPod mini.

Her taste in music wasn't _completely_ poles apart from his preference, but it was still different. He was kind of into rock _and _rap. He was more into music by the Foo Fighters, Weezer, Kanye West, a little bit of 50 Cent and his 'crew'…yeah; 'different' from what Evian listened to.

"So why didn't she want you to leave anyway?" Mariah went on.

Tala shrugged, "She's weird."

"She's so attached to you, it's so cute. But really, I think it's because of what's been happening, you know, like yesterday. It's perfectly normal for her to be afraid. I mean, even _I'm_ scared. I don't think even Kai got any sleep last night."

"Neither did I…" Tala thought about last night. Actually, he thought about _what_ Evian did last night. That was…ingenious. He was _sure_ Evian would run out of the car like an idiot, scream like a girl, and then get shot. But no, she handled the situation perfectly, so intelligently. He wondered what _he'd_ do if he was in the car instead. He didn't know. He honestly didn't know what he would've done.

He wondered what Kai would've done if he was in that situation. Both Kai and he had been _trained_ for situations like that, and still, they didn't know what they'd do. But Evian was not. She was just an average girl who grew up playing with Barbie dolls and her mother's make up and pretended to be a runway model on the kitchen table.

Something distracted him from his trail of thoughts. The plane jerked slightly and several passengers started panicking. Tala looked around.

"What was that?" He asked the pink haired girl.

"I don't know but maybe we should put on our seatbelts…" Mariah said. Tala nodded, doing as was suggested. He looked out the window from his seat. He got a perfect view of the aircraft's left wing…and he also got a perfect view of something leaking from the wing.

However, he wasn't the only traveler that noticed the strange leak.

**x x x **

Evian hopped out of the police vehicle, "Thank you!" She grinned at the cop that had dropped her off at home.

"Anytime, now you stay safe, okay? And we'll have a few cops on this block tonight, just incase."

Evian nodded. She made her way out of the driveway and knocked on her door. Her mom opened the door and let her in.

"How was school, Evian?"

"Good," The blonde answered flatly.

"Are you hungry?"

"No."

"But you didn't take any lunch with you either, honey, you _must_ be starving." Mrs. MaCaffery stated.

And she was right. A mother was always right. Evian was starving, for the first time in her life probably. She only had a small breakfast in the morning, and had no lunch at school today.

"I know you're angry," Mrs. MaCaffery continued, "But that's no reason to not eat."

"Why?"

Mrs. MaCaffery chuckled. "I'll prepare something for you in the kitchen, okay?"

Evian nodded. She went upstairs, dropped her bag in her room and looked out the window. _Stupid Tala…_ God! That idiot was just so…lucky and talented! She really wished she had picked up blading lessons or something when she was little. Then maybe _she'd_ be on the team too and she wouldn't have to worry about not having anyone to talk to.

Well Tala wasn't just _anyone_…he was her diary! He was her walking, living, breathing, advice-giving diary! Okay, so maybe not her 'diary', but he was a person she could go and bitch to about everything. _Almost_ everything.

Sure she had friends, Miriam and Evelyn, and they'd been friends since the beginning of high school and were very close right now, but still, she didn't feel too comfortable telling them 'things'.

Fuck everything, she just needed _someone_. Anyone! Someone trustworthy and someone who wouldn't laugh at her! She kind of wanted it to be a guy, because men were just so much better to bitch to than women.

_Asshole…_ She fumed. And now her brother's best friend – who probably _wasn't_ his best friend anymore – was gone too, and even though Evian didn't really talk to Marshal or anything, she could still go to him and talk. But no, he had to be a jerk and leave too.

"Evian?"

The blonde turned around to see her mother standing by the door way. "I heated up some macaroni for you and I thought maybe after you're done eating, we can go out, just us, you know, mother and daughter and spend some quality time. We haven't done that in such a long time, I feel like I don't know you," Mrs. MaCaffery smiled affectionately. "We can do some shopping," She added.

Evian grinned. Shopping? Oh she was _in_, baby! And spending some time with her mother was just what she needed! It was going to be _better_ than talking to Tala! Evian finished her meal and changed into something else. After that, Mrs. MaCaffery and Evian went on a total shopping spree at the downtown mall, enjoying themselves, completely unaware of the horrendous news that was going to hit them the next day.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**EAMR and HIEI LOVERS – **Not to worry! Evian got a beyblade for a reason!

**Bladerprincess – **Yup, that boarding school crap will make its way later in the story!

**And thanks to these biatches for reviewing! **

****

**HeartlessDevil **

**NightPredator **

**Kasanara **

**Crying Sorceress **

**Caliecookie1991 **

**Lamanth **

**Simply Sakura **

**Bratty-randa **

**cUt-TilL-aLl-ThE-bLoOd-SeAp... **

**Wreckless Spirit **

**AnimeGirl329 (awww, fine, you're forgiven! Lol) **


	14. Chapter 14

_See you sitting next to the window in the bedroom; she breaks down._

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Fourteen (Sorry if the formatting for this chapter is...strange. This site is being retarded)

Upon hearing the alarm clock, Evian sat up in bed feeling extremely odd. She shut off the alarm. There was a strange aching in her head that kept coming and going. It wasn't a headache. It was just weird. She didn't even know _where_ it hurt. Usually a headache would aim for her temples. If she was stressed out, the back of her head would hurt and feel heavy.

She ignored the peculiar phenomenon and got out of bed.

It was the next morning, and it was indeed one of the best mornings Evian had ever had – if she subtracted the 'headache'. First of all, the weather was gorgeous! Sure, it was cold because it was winter, but still, it was sunny and it wasn't snowing.

Evian got a good night's sleep, after a very long time too, and she even got up on time this morning. The best part of the morning however, was having her mom home during breakfast.

"How are the blueberry pancakes, Ev?" Mrs. MaCaffery questioned.

"Great! Better than the time you were at work, and Tala tried to make them. Oh my god mom, it was _so_ nasty, because the pancakes were like half raw, and what's even grosser was that he _ate_ it and then he threw up in school, remember? It was _so_ gross."

Mrs. MaCaffery laughed at the reminiscence. The morning was so perfect. Evian loved it. She wanted her mornings to be like this everyday. She wanted to wake up without feeling moody all the time. She wanted to wake up like this. She wanted to wake up and have a nice breakfast with at least _one _family member. Suddenly, the phone rang.

"Wanna get that honey?" Mrs. MaCaffery asked.

"Sure," Evian said, getting up from her seat and reaching for the phone in the living room. "Hello?"

"Evian? Is this Evian?" The voice from the other line did _not_ belong to her brother; instead, it belonged to a weeping old lady.

"Yeah, it's me," Evian said, trying to figure out who was talking to her, "Grandma Eileen?"

"Y-yes…you…you haven't seen the news yet?"

"Why?" Evian made a face. "Gramma, are you okay? Do you want to talk to mom?"

"You should…watch the news," With that, the senior from the other line broke into a fit of tears. Evian spotted the television remote from the coffee table and turned it on. She flipped to _CNN_. The scene was a live shot from somewhere in the Arizona state. There was an airplane smack dab in the middle of a dense forest. The aircraft was broken in half and there was smoke coming out from all over the place.

"– _Air Canada's _flight 182 made a crash landing, disastrously, say investigators, just a few hours ago, approximately two hundred miles from its destination to Phoenix, Arizona's airport. Police and paramedics are on the sight, looking for signs of any survivors…"

The phone slipped out of the blonde's grip and descended towards the floor.

**x x x**

Screaming, yelling, and the noise of fire hoses were all that was audible. Smoke filled the inside of the airplane.

Every so often, he could hear a few fire fighters running in and out of the burning airplane looking for survivors most likely.

He opened his eyes halfway. He wanted to close them back. He felt something trickle down his forehead and land on the surface. Once again, he felt extremely dizzy. He could hear a short conversation between two fire fighters:

"We don't have much time! There aren't any more survivors on this plane!"

"Are you sure? Has everyone been taken out of the plane?"

"Yes, everyone who's alive! We have to go before the entire plane burns down! We've only got a few minutes!"

"So we should leave now?"

"Yes, now! Everyone's been rescued! We _have_ to leave now! C'mon!"

From where he was, Tala heard the fire fighters scurry out of the airplane. He tried to move around indicating that he was still alive. But something pinned him down. He tried to move once again, but there was no luck. He couldn't lift himself up and save himself. There was something on him. The fire fighters left the airplane.

Was this…all his sister's doing? Did she _really_ curse him? Did she _really_ mean it when she said she hoped he died? She probably did. He didn't know why. But maybe he really _should've_ stayed when she told him to. But he couldn't do anything about it now. Besides, he was going to die anyway.

But he didn't want to die. Not yet.

Not without doing the things he really wanted to do.

"I…I'm still alive!" He yelled out. "I'm alive! I'm alive! I'm alive!" He shouted as loud as he could. But no one came back to help him. He tried to shift again, but something was holding him down. Maybe that's why the fire fighters hadn't seen him.

What would Evian do in this case? She'd forget about the fucking fire fighters and depend on herself! She escaped out of _two_ near death situations! He should be able to as well! He was coached for these situations! He looked around. He could see the empty airplane seats. He grabbed on to one and pulled his way out from where he was stuck. He stood up, feeling extremely faint. He felt something wet seep out of his forehead; he placed his fingers on it and looked at his now blood covered fingers. He looked behind him and went completely pale once he found out what had been pinning him down: the man that had been sitting beside him. He was dead.

The plane jerked violently and he stumbled forward. He quickly got back to his feet. He tried to find an exit but smoke was extremely heavy and he couldn't even see where he was going. He kneeled down since the smoke was less dense at the bottom and started crawling in a random direction hoping he could make it out in time.

**x x x**

It was five o'clock; school had ended hours ago, but Evian didn't go today. Who could, after receiving the nightmarish news from the morning? She was in her room the whole day, not knowing how she felt, really.

Actually, she was angry and depressed at the same time. She had the cordless phone in her hands. Every two seconds, she'd call her brother on his cell phone only to receive the same answer: _The mobile customer you are trying to reach is not in service_, and every time she heard the message, she was _this_ close to throwing in the towel and accepting the fact that Tala, and her dad, were dead indeed.

And if they were, she didn't know how she'd deal with it. Maybe she'd go crazy and her mom would put her into a mental asylum. Like, she could totally tell that was the end result – she was _already_ going slightly crazy. She couldn't think properly. She felt as if she was dreaming. She had finished an entire box of _Lindor Lindt _chocolates and didn't even think about how much fat she had just consumed.

Taking out the pack of cigarettes from under her pillow, she pulled one out and lit it up with the lighter she always kept with her. Within seconds, she felt less panicky. She felt calm, and cool and _relaxed._ She threw the cigarette butt out the window once she was done.

She pressed the redial button on the phone again and received the same message. Kai was the only other person she knew in that group who had a cell phone, but unfortunately, she didn't know his number. But she was sure Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong was trying to get a hold of her _Cupcake_ and Mariah as well.

With the phone still in her hands, she went downstairs to the kitchen. She needed something junky to eat or she'd go more insane. Sighing, she poured herself a glass of chocolate milk and phoned Tala again. He wasn't dead. He _can't_ be dead. She'd kill herself. Or she'd kill someone else.

She heard her mother crying from upstairs over the 'losses' of her son and husband. Evian prepared some food for her mother – Mrs. MaCaffery hadn't really eaten anything.

She didn't bother cooking, so she made her mother a tuna fish sandwich, prettily, and poured orange juice into a glass and took it upstairs to her parents' room. She entered the room and sat on the bed next to the redhead.

Yes, Mrs. MaCaffery had gorgeous, wavy copper coloured hair. Evian wanted that hair, but her brother got it instead, but his hair was a much darker red than their mother's; it was a cherry red. And Mr. MaCaffery was a brunette; he had a dark shade of brown for his hair and had the same eyes as Tala's. Evian wondered who she looked like since no one in the family had blonde hair _or_ green eyes, not even her grandmother.

"Mom? I made you a sandwich," She held up the plate.

"It's…its okay, I'm not hungry, you should eat it," The woman sobbed.

"I ate," _Kind of_, "I made it for you."

"Evian, I'm not hungry."

Evian nodded in understanding and situated the plate on the side table. Suddenly, Mrs. MaCaffery grabbed her daughter and embraced her tightly and continued crying. Evian couldn't help it – she let herself cry too. Who was she kidding? _No_ one could survive a plane crash like that, and even if anyone did, it would just be one really lucky person.

She had to face it: Tala and her dad were gone for good and she would never see them again, in her entire life. She didn't have a brother anymore. She didn't have a dad anymore. Even with her mom, she was alone and things would _never_ be the same.

**x x x**

Kai looked through the windowpane and sighed in relief once he realized Tala was indeed _alive_. Injured pretty badly, but alive. Kai decided not to go inside; the redhead wasn't up yet and besides, he probably needed his rest. Heck, even Kai needed 'rest', according to the doctors, but being in a hospital bed for three hours straight, awake, was a lot of rest if you asked him! Unfortunately, he was the only team member from his team that felt that way. Actually, _anyone_ who was able to make it out alive from the aircraft was resting.

Everyone else from his team was alive, thank god, but everyone wanted to 'rest'. Kai was beginning to hate that word.

He had a sudden flashback of the ghastly plane crash. He shook his head to get rid of the reminiscence. It had been approximately twenty-four hours since the crash, almost a day.

He limped on his right foot and used the crutches the nurses had provided him to get to where he wanted to go: the payphones. He picked up the phone and pressed '0'. "Hi, uh, I'd like to make a collect call to Canada please?" The operator told him to hold on for a bit. Then he dialed the number he needed to dial and waited for someone to pick up from the other line. To his dissatisfaction, the answering machine kicked in.

As much as he hated leaving messages, he knew he had to leave one now, it was urgent, "Hi, um, Mrs. MaCaffery, or uh, Evian…this is Kai, and…"

Suddenly someone from the other end picked up.

"Hello?"

It sounded a lot like Evian. He _had_ to call her first; he saw how weird she was when she found out her brother was leaving. She completely freaked out. He didn't like her at all, but she had the right to know that her brother was alive and safe and okay.

"This is Kai…"

There was absolute silence after that, just complete silence and nothing else. It was as if they weren't on the phone at all. He couldn't even hear her breathing. It was dead silent. _She_ was dead silent. He decided to break the news to her, plain and simple, "Tala's okay,"

For a second time in a row, the conversation went utterly soundless. Maybe she fainted of shock or something. "Evian?"

"_Yeah_?" Her voice was a squeak. It was extremely quiet and almost impossible to hear. Then he heard her break out into a fit of tears. He remained silent, giving her time to regain herself. He felt so bad for her because he was positive Tala – or anyone else for that matter – wasn't aware of how much his sister cared for him. She never really 'showed' it until now. She probably cared about him more than she cared about her parents and her friends. "He's okay?" She sniffled.

"He's okay, he's alive. Your brother's perfectly fine," He tried to make it as clear to her as possible.

"Oh my _god_," She sobbed, "Can I…talk to him?"

"Uh, I don't think so; he's not up yet and the doctors aren't really letting anyone go inside his room yet."

"What about my dad?" She finally questioned.

"Your dad's good; I think he just got a few stitches on his arm or something. He's okay."

"Um, okay," She paused, "Can you please tell Tala to call me back as soon as he gets up? I don't care if he has like, a broken foot, or like a broken arm, or like whatever, just tell him to call _right_ away."

"Uh, okay, I'll tell him that," He said. He wanted to get off the phone and phone his mom. Yeah, he was a major mamma's boy and his mom loved him more than anything else in the world. "Hey, look, I have to go and call everyone else, so, um, you know, I'll talk to you later or something,"

"Oh, okay,"

"Bye, Evian,"

"Bye – oh! Wait! Wait! Wait! Kai!"

"Yeah, I'm still here,"

"Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm wicked awesome," He couldn't help but grin.

She chuckled, "Okay, and thanks _so_ much, Kai,"

"No problem," They finally said their goodbyes and hung up. He was glad she asked him how he was, or else he would've felt…bad. He would've felt like a complete moron if she didn't bother asking him about him. But she did ask him about his well being and he didn't feel like shit. Next, Kai called his mother, who went absolutely hysterical to hear her son's voice and know that her step daughter was okay as well. After what seemed like eternity, Kai was able to let go of his mother and phone everyone else and tell them that their 'loved one' or child was okay.

**x x x**

Boris put down the newspaper and looked down at the vice captain of the team he was coaching, "Any news?" He questioned.

The brunette nodded, "Tala and Kai are alive."

Boris remained silent, contemplating, "Marshal,"

"Yes, Boris?"

"Contact Brooklyn,"

"And tell him what?"

"Tala and Kai are _very_ vulnerable at this point in time," He paused and looked at the brunette, "Especially their bit beasts. Tell Brooklyn to go to the hospital where they are staying. I want Dranzer and Wolborg _now_, while we have the chance. We can get our hands on Tala and Kai later."

"Yes, Boris." The brunette bowed and left the room. Boris looked back at the computer screen.

"Dranzer and Wolborg _will_ be mine," The purple haired man hissed.

**x x x**

It had been hours since Evian had received Kai's call and told her mother everything. And it had also been hours since Evian and Mrs. MaCaffery waited by the phone for Tala or Mr. MaCaffery to call. To Evian's dismay, the only person who called was her father, and not who she _really_ wanted to talk to. Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong dropped by earlier in the morning and suggested the three of them head to Phoenix, Arizona. Mrs. MaCaffery and Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong booked three tickets and their flight was in only two hours.

Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong invited Evian and Mrs. MaCaffery for lunch before their flight.

Evian had _no_ idea what she was eating, but whatever it was, it was _really_ good. It was some kind of French food, since that was Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong's ethnic background. She had come from France and moved to Quebec, Canada with her husband, and that's apparently where Kai was born. After a few years, Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong and Mr. Hiwatari had filed for a divorce, and Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong had full custody over her son.

She moved to Toronto when Kai was five, and met Mr. Wong at a coffee shop. Sparks flew of course, and this was the end result. Kai wasn't too happy about the decision when it first happened, but he seemed perfectly okay with having Mariah as a sister and Mr. Hiwatari-Wong as a father at this point.

"So we're ready to go then?" Mr. Hiwatari-Wong asked the three females in the kitchen. He volunteered to drive them to the airport. The three nodded. It took about an hour to get to the airport, and another thirty minutes of waiting before entering the departure gates and getting into the airplane. There were a _lot_ of people aboard the aircraft – most were family and friends of the people from flight 182, and were doing just what Evian, her mom, and Kai's mom were doing.

Kai's mom and Mrs. MaCaffery couldn't shut up about their sons.

And that's what bugged Evian, the fact that Tala was the center of attention yet _again_. Maybe it _would_ have been better if Tala _was_ dead. Then maybe…just maybe…she'd get at least _some_ attention and recognition. It just wasn't fair. She was just as good as him!

Well, not really.

He was the smart one.

He was their parents' favourite.

He was everything she wasn't.

He had everything she didn't have.

She didn't get it.

They were _twins_. Biologically, they were the _same_…or at least, they were _supposed_ to be the same. But they weren't. He was the 'good' twin, and she was the 'bad' twin.

She felt like shit…

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**I FINISHED MY CALCULUS HOMEWORK! LIKE OMFG! **

**Lamanth – **HAHA! Lmfao! About the Mexican dog thing, I blame randomness. And my brain. Well actually, Mexican dogs are like, really thin and skinny, and they're kind of deprived of food. I think. I could be wrong.

**Crying Sorceress – **I'm dense. I don't know if you were being sarcastic in your review or not. Lol.

**And thanks to these lovely ladies (and gentlemen…I think): **

**NightPredator **

**Caliecookie1991 (I'm sorry, but this is just the cutest username ever) **

**Wreckless Spirit **

**Simply Sakura **

**HEIE LOVERS **

**EAMR **

**HeartlessDevil **

**cUt-TilL-aLl-ThE-bLoOd-SeAp... **

**Kasanara **

**Frag (Omfg, I love this username. Haha. _Frag!_ Lol) **

**Majirdiu (Hey, when are you updating your story, biatch?) **

**AND ONE MORE THING FELLOW MORTALS! **I wanna make a soundtrack for this fic (don't ask…no really, don't ask) and I already have a list of songs, but I wanna know if you guys have any suggestions. The song(s) can be of any genre (rap, rock, pop, ass, crap, etc). Either pick a song for a specific character in the story or just…the story itself. Not sure if I made any sense there…but okay.** Thx in advance! **

**AND REVIEW! Please, please, PLEASE review because I'm just the cutest thing in the world and you guys can't resist me! In fact, I can't resist myself either! I keep touching myself! Omfg! **


	15. Chapter 15

_She said, 'don't wanna work I wanna play and live my life like it was Sunday'. _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Fifteen 

Death was better than boredom. That's what Kai thought. For two days now, he had been doing nothing but walking around the hospital with his crutches aimlessly. Well, it was better than being in his stupid hospital room and getting all claustrophobic.

He was getting a bit tired however, hopping around on one foot, depending completely on the crutches; he wanted to sit down for a while or something. Absentmindedly, he looked towards the receptionist area, and that's when he saw…

…his mom? He also spotted Evian and Tala's mom right by his mom's side.

Once Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong looked his way, she sighed in relief, tears welled up in her eyes, and she ran – yes, she actually _ran_ – towards the slate-haired teen. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing him a million times, and squeezed the life out of him.

"Tu e bien! J'étais ainsi inquiété de tu!"

"I'm okay, mom, I'm fine," He managed to say. His mom had _every_ right to be over-worried. First of all, Kai had _never_ been away from home, not even on camping trips or sleepovers. Second, being _this_ far from home was a big step for not only him, but his mom as well. Third, his plane had crashed and he was _this_ close to death. He grabbed a seat on the bench and made his mother sit right beside him. "Maman, je suis très bien. J'ai seulement un pied cassé. Je suis vivant." He spoke in his first language.

His mom grabbed him into a tight embrace once again and wept. Kai looked over his mom's shoulder and spotted Evian and her mother. Evian grinned shyly and slightly waved at him.

"Let's go, Evian," Mrs. MaCaffery pulled the blonde and proceeded to visit Tala. At first, Evian was slightly scared. What if Tala was _really_ badly injured? Mrs. MaCaffery turned the doorknob and went into the room first. Evian took a deep breath and entered the room right after.

He was playing around with his hospital food, making faces at the 'gunk' on the tray that was supposed to be mashed potatoes or something. He hadn't noticed his sister _or_ his mom yet. Evian smiled – a smile that expressed relief and joy at the same time. He _was_ fine, just like Kai had said so. The redhead had a small patch of bandage on his forehead, indicating his injury. Other than that, he was _perfect_.

The mother and daughter raced up to the redhead and completely smothered him. At first, he was frightened by the unexpected guests.

"Mom? _Evian_?"

"We missed you _so_ much! We were so worried! You have no idea how terrified we were!" Mrs. MaCaffery continued, kissing his forehead. She touched the bandage. She appeared somewhat saddened, "Oh, my poor baby,"

"It doesn't hurt anymore," He admitted, "But sometimes I get headaches. They said I had a concussion."

"Oh, a concussion, that sounds ugly," Mrs. MaCaffery eyed the tray, "What's this?"

"It's my 'lunch'," He said, making quotation marks with his fingers. His mother chuckled, picking up the fork and twirling it around the mashed potatoes. There was also a glass of orange juice, an apple, some celery and carrot sticks, and a small amount of candy. He finally looked over towards the blonde, "Hey,"

"Hi…" Her smile slowly vanished, and her eyes started to water. She tried to stop them from turning into tears, wiping them away with her hands, smearing her eye make up in the process. But her plan failed and she went into her hysterical crying mode. "I'm sorry for," She paused to _try_ to calm down, "For cursing your plane," She covered her face with her hands.

Tala looked at his mother. She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm going to go visit your father, okay?" She said. The redhead nodded. Mrs. MaCaffery looked at her daughter one last time before leaving the room.

Evian continued crying like a little child, and she even looked like one since she was dressed in a baby pink tank top and a hot pink mini skirt that ended inches above her knees, along with a pair of white flip flops.

"Hey, I'm okay," He said as if nothing had happened. But that wasn't going to work, and he knew that. Evian was a sentimental type of girl. She'd cry over _anything_, except, she wouldn't exactly cry in front of people other than him and her parents. She was a self-conscious kind of person and cared a _lot_ about what others thought about her. Well…in a way, everyone worried about what people thought about them, heck, even Tala did sometimes, especially when it came to girls.

"Then why are you _here_?" She referred to the hospital. He pulled her closer by her arm.

"Hey, people come to the hospital for many different reasons, good or bad," He tried to explain to her. He made her sit on the edge of the hospital bed, "Even you were at the hospital a few times. Like the time when we were younger, and we got into a fight, and then I pushed you and you hit your head on the corner of the coffee table and you had to get stitches."

She nodded and slightly grinned at the memory.

"So, I'm all good," He stated. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm not dead, right? Like the other people on that plane,"

And that made her all depressed again. What if he _was_ dead? She'd never pardon herself. She had treated him so badly on the day he left. She'd feel guilty for her entire existence if he did die.

"I was one of the lucky ones, Evian."

No, _she_ was one of the lucky ones. She threw her arms around him and placed her head on his shoulder and cried.

"I'm sorry I said that," She apologized once more.

"It's okay, don't worry about," He ran his fingers through her hair straight, glossy corn blonde hair. She had really nice hair; he didn't know why she kept complaining all the time. She had absolutely no tangles or fly-aways in her hair. "We're even now."

"But I feel _horrible_," She sobbed, "Like, super horrible, like, oh my god," She squeezed him tighter. She couldn't believe he was almost _gone_. "I just like, can't stop thinking about the possibility, because like, so many people on that airplane died, I saw it on the news…and I even had a dream about a plane crashing before you left and…"

He pulled away from her and held her hands firmly, "Hey, I'm right here, okay?" She didn't look convinced. She continued crying. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm _right_ here. You're going to worry yourself sick over _nothing_ at all. Stop that." He grabbed a tissue and wiped the black streaks on her face made by her eyeliner and mascara.

She tried. What she _really_ needed right now was a cigarette. That was probably the only thing that would make her stop feeling so gloomy and miserable. The craving panged. She abruptly stood up.

"I need to go pee," She stated, "I'll be back." She left without getting a reply or a comment. She left the room and followed the signs, taking her outside of the hospital, to the parking lot. She concealed herself from public view. She reached into her purse, pulled out the pack of cigarettes and her lighter. She lit the stick and pressed it against her lips. She felt good. She felt really good. She felt relaxed.

She exhaled out the smoke and looked into the horizon. The parking lot was not too big and there were just a few cars. The parking lot was rather empty. She stood beside the trash can, so she could throw out the cigarette incase someone walked by.

And someone _did _walk by. However, due to slow reflexes, she was unable to go along with her plan. She hid the cigarette behind her and stood there innocently.

"Where's your mom, Kai?" The blonde asked. He didn't look too bad – in terms of injuries and stuff. He had a broken foot and seemed to get along fine with his crutches.

"With Mimi," He answered, leaning himself against the wall, a few feet away from her.

"Mimi?"

"Mariah…I kind of call her Mimi, because when I was younger, I couldn't say Mariah,"

"Oh, yeah, I should see her soon. And the others, I guess." _Go away, Kai! You're wasting my precious cigarette! God!_

He looked at her strangely. "What _is_ that?"

"What's what?"

"_That_," He pointed to the slew of smoke that was coming from behind her back. "You smoke?"

She gave up on trying to hide it. She nodded, "Just a little. Don't tell my brother."

"Uh, okay," He said, acting as if he didn't care. He really didn't. He knew a lot of people who smoked. His mom used to smoke, but quit a long time ago. His cousins smoked too. Heck, even he tried it once, but didn't really like it and ended up choking on the smoke instead.

"Don't worry, I'm going to quit,"

"When?"

"Soon." She inhaled on the cigarette, "Hey, how's your foot?"

"It's alright, I guess. Better than Enrique's condition,"

"What's wrong with Enrique?"

"Didn't you hear? He's in a coma."

"_What_? Oh my god, are you serious?" She finished the remainder of the cigarette and chucked the butt at the garbage can. "He's okay, right?"

"I think so, like, the doctors have no idea when he's going to wake up, and that kind of leaves a major dent for our team,"

"Why?"

"Because we need six people and he's down for the count. Tala says we should wait a while, you know, incase Enrique decides to get up from his 'hibernation'," The slate-haired teen rolled his eyes. "The BBA is giving every team that was on that plane three weeks to recover and get new members, if they need to."

"So if Enrique isn't up by three weeks, you need a new member for your team?"

"Yeah,"

There was silence for some time as the two had no idea what to talk about next. Nonetheless, the silence is what made Evian more nervous. She hated having someone right next to her when they weren't talking. She tried to stir up a conversation to kill the awkwardness.

"How's Hilary?"

"She's okay," He said flatly. "She's got a few cuts and bruises, but she's good."

"What about Ray and Mariah?"

"Ray's got a broken wrist, but the doctors are saying he'll be able to blade within a week, and Mariah's got like, a cut down her right arm, but she'll be able to blade,"

More silence. "Well I'm gonna head back before my mom thinks I died in the washroom or something, because that's where I told her I was going,"

"Yeah, same here," She said, following him back to the hospital. "Hey, I'm gonna head to the hospital's cafeteria,"

"Why?"

"Because my brother can't eat that stuff they're serving at the hospital, so I'm going to get him something that doesn't look like diarrhea," She grinned. Kai decided to go with the blonde. Even when it came to her brother, she was picky about the food. "All this food is like, so rich in fat, oh my god. I thought hospitals were like, some sort of healthy place or something." She said, finally reaching out for a plastic container with cut up fruits. She also got a small carton of chocolate milk and a slice of pizza, even though she _really_ didn't want to.

Kai went to see how Hilary was doing, so Evian went her separate way to her brother.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Tala questioned, looking up from the hospital bed.

"Went to get you something," The blonde said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. She took out the slice of pizza from the paper bag and frowned, "This probably has like, ten to fifteen grams of fat. I can't believe hospitals serve this stuff." She moved his original meal away and dumped out the contents from the paper bag. "And this is partly skimmed chocolate milk; it's got less fat, and _this_ is godly food," She grinned at the bowl of sliced up fruits.

"Looks a lot better than _that_," He eyed his tray of food he hardly ate. "I swear, I think the doctors are trying to starve the patients or something just to get rid of us,"

She chuckled. She shared a bit of the fruit salad since she was slightly hungry herself. There was silence for some time. She thought about things.

"I heard about Enrique," She finally spoke, fiddling with her fingers, looking down at the ground. "I feel so bad for him; he's too hot to be in a coma,"

"Don't worry," The redhead finished the remainder of his chocolate milk and grinned, "He'll be up and banging you in no time,"

She went _red_, "Don't be such a moron, oh my god, ew,"

"Hey, _you're_ the one that's like, completely obsessed with him,"

"I'm not obsessed with him! I just think he's hot, god; I'd never like, date him or something," She rolled her eyes, "I go for 'smart' guys,"

"So what are you saying? Enrique's dumb?"

"Well he _is_, you know," She stated in a matter-of-factly way. "I mean, I'm dumb too, but I don't wanna _be_ with like, a dumb guy. Besides, when a guy has a brain, it's a major turn on,"

"Really?"

"Yeah,"

"So am _I_ a turn on for you?"

She exhaled out loudly, "I'm your _sister_ incase you're forgetting because of that stupid concussion;you are _so_ dirty, oh my god,"

"And is _that_ a turn on?"

"You're such a moron," She whacked him on the arm.

"_What_?" His tone was defensive. "I was kidding, chillax!"

**x x x **

It was late, very late at night, three in the morning to be precise. The orange haired man walked down the vacant hallway. He stood in front of the door labeled 34. He grinned. He looked around him, the coast was clear, there were no signs of nurses or doctors; he turned the door knob and entered the room.

The room was dark; nonetheless, he could make out the hospital bed and also the sleeping redhead. He pulled out a small flashlight and aimed it towards the side table. _Aha_. He smirked in satisfaction upon spotting the grey beyblade with the wolf bit chip. He looked at the beyblade he had confiscated a few minutes ago, the blue one with the phoenix bit chip.

Suddenly, he heard the door open and heard footsteps behind him. Accidentally, he dropped the blue beyblade on the ground. He crouched down and crawled under the hospital bed and quickly turned off the flashlight.

The footsteps came closer towards the hospital bed. _Who the fuck?_ All he could see from where he was hiding were a pair of nice feminine legs and pink painted toenails along with a pair of white flip flops. He watched the girl walk around the bed, and she unintentionally kicked the blue beyblade on the ground. She picked up the beyblade, "Tala's such a moron," She said quietly.

Her back was turned to him. This was his chance. He pulled out a pocket knife, and crawled out from under the bed. He grabbed the blonde, putting a hand over her mouth and placing the razor-sharp blade by her throat. She didn't move or try to get free; however, he could feel her tremble. She was scared. That's exactly what he wanted.

"Tell a soul," He whispered in her ear, "And I'll kill you." There was a pause, "Don't turn around until I leave, understand?" When she didn't reply, not that she could, he pressed the blade down a little harder and she whimpered slightly, "_Understand_?" She nodded. "Don't turn around." He repeated. He slowly let her go. She didn't turn around. She stayed put, just like he had told her to. He looked back; the door was left open, making his escape easier. He paced towards the door and left the room.

Once he was gone, or once she _thought_ he was gone, Evian turned around. He _was_ gone, whoever it was. She looked around the dark room. Scared, she quickly paced over towards the light switch and turned on the ceiling lights. Even the strong lights didn't awaken her brother. He was a heavy sleeper – even an atomic bomb wouldn't get him up. However, he didn't need as many hours of sleep as Evian.

Evian looked at the beyblade she was holding in surprise. This wasn't Tala's beyblade…this was Kai's. She looked over towards the side table. The grey beyblade that belonged to her brother was still there. Why was Kai's beyblade in here? She knew Kai – well, not really – but well enough to know he would never leave important things lying around just about anywhere.

Things weren't right. She felt scared. Someone was after her. She went towards the redhead and placed her hands on his shoulder to wake him up. She shook him hard, "Hey, _hey_, wake up," He stirred in his sleep and turned away from her, completely annoyed, but when it didn't stop, he opened one eye and looked at Evian with a murderous look.

"_What_?"

"I just…" She stopped. She remembered something: _"Tell a soul and I'll kill you."_ That threat was the only thing that stopped her from telling Tala what had just happened. She didn't want to die. She felt a sudden sting on her throat. It must've been from the blade.

He looked at her strangely and sat up in bed. He reached out and touched a small red area on her throat; she flinched, "You're bleeding,"

"I broke a nail," She started, "And I accidentally scratched myself. I wanted to ask if…" She paused, "If you have a band aid or something."

She woke him up, at three in the morning, to ask for a band aid? What the hell… "Why didn't you just ask a nurse? We're _in_ a hospital."

"Actually," She moved away and paced towards the switches; she turned off the lights, "I'm fine," She sat on the chair near the hospital bed.

"But…"

"Go back to sleep," She said, pushing him back to bed, "You look tired, and I'm really sleep actually. I went to get some chocolate milk from the cafeteria, but it was closed," She sighed. She yawned as she placed her head on his chest. "I'm going to sleep here if you don't mind,"

"Uh, go ahead, I guess,"

She waited until he fell asleep so she could go and return Kai's beyblade, unfortunately for her, it took eternity for the redhead to fall asleep after being woken up already. She tried her best to stay awake.

At around six in the morning, when she was positive Tala was asleep, she got up and left the room. She picked out the blue beyblade from her purse and headed towards Kai's room, which was just down the hall.

She opened the door just a little and peeked in. She sighed in relief once she realized Kai's mom wasn't with him. She entered the room and walked across the room towards him. She could just leave the beyblade by his pillow or something. However, something stopped her from proceeding with her task. The covers weren't on him, and he was completely shirtless. She stared at his ridiculously hot figure with her mouth open. She had seen so many shirtless men before, but this was…oh lord, she had no idea. His body screamed instant sex. Man, was it just her, or was it getting hot in here?

Miriam and Evelyn – and half the school – were right. Kai was _extremely_ hot. Why hadn't she noticed before? He _was_ 'hot-as-fuck'.

His hair was chaotic. It was all over the place. That was hot. He just looked _so_ hot.

She realized she was wasting her time here. What if he suddenly woke up? Yeah, that would be kind of scary, and she'd have a lot of explaining to do as well. Besides, she came here to return his blade, not stare at his shirtless glory and his high cheek bones.

However, before she could put the blue beyblade back where she wanted to, she felt someone behind her. She turned around; behind her stood a _very_ angry Hilary. She had her hands on her hips and looked just about ready to kill the blonde.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Nothing,"

"What do you mean nothing? You don't just come into my boyfriend's room at like, fucking six in the morning, and like fucking lie to me."

She turned red, not because she was embarrassed or anything, but because she was extremely nervous.

"What the hell are you doing with my boyfriend's beyblade?"

"What? This? Oh I…" Damn. She had no idea what to say.

"You little bitch," The brunette paced closer, "You were trying to steal it, weren't you?"

Evian's jaw dropped – _what_! Steal a beyblade? Steal _Kai's_ beyblade? What the hell? Why would she do that? "I wasn't,"

The brunette walked past her and went over to the slate-haired teen. "Kai! Kai look!"

"What? _What_?" He half-opened his eyes, "What time is it?"

"_Look_," Hilary pointed at the blonde. Kai turned over. "She was trying to steal your beyblade."

"_What_?" Kai sat up in bed abruptly and stared at the blonde in utter shock.

"She would've taken it if I didn't come in," Hilary added.

"I wasn't! I didn't steal it! And I wasn't going to!" Evian panicked. She was being blamed for something she didn't do! Something she would _never_ plan to do! She was being blamed for an act of kindness!

"Oh _yeah_?" Hilary raised an eyebrow.

"Believe me; I would _never_ steal something, especially a beyblade." Even though she'd never admit it, Evian felt a little intimidated by Hilary. Maybe it was because of her attitude.

"Then what _were_ you doing with my blade?"

_Trying to give it back to you, you jerk_. Evian felt angry. Just because Hilary was his girlfriend, didn't mean he had to side with her all the time. It wasn't fair. Besides, she was doing a good thing – she was returning it. If not for her, he'd lose it for good.

"Give my blade back, Evian," He extended his hand out.

She exhaled out loudly and dropped the blue beyblade into his hand. "I wasn't stealing your beyblade."

Hilary crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "Right…" She murmured.

Dismayed, Evian left the room without another word. Even though she didn't do anything, she felt guilty. She hated Hilary! Oh, she just wanted to kill that bitch! If not for her, none of this would've happened! Evian just wanted to tear her apart – _literally_! She made her so mad!

She didn't understand what Kai saw in Hilary. Well yeah, sure Hilary was pretty, but she had a lot of flaws! _She has no boobs! And she needs to pluck her eyebrows! And…and she's mean!_

Frustrated, she went back to her brother's room and attempted to get some sleep. She could deal with Hilary's stupidity later.

God. Hilary needed to die! Someone needed to go and fork her eyes out!

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**Hello bitches! First of all, I just reread my story, and I don't think it's that bad, but if you guys think its just dragging, tell me. Nonetheless, big things are going to happen…like REALLY big things. Personally, I like the plot of this story, ha ha. But if you guys think I should cut to the chase faster, TELL ME! **

**Lamanth – **Your song is EXCELLENT! I am actually going to use it! Omfg! It's an awesome song! I was actually scared when I asked for everyone's suggestions because I thought they'd be all cliché and suggest like Linkin Park or something. But no, your song is GREAT! It fits Evian perfectly! Especially for later chapters! Thank you!

**Crying Sorceress – **Oh my poo…that song you suggested…was like…the best fucking song EVER! Honestly, omfg, you know what I did? I fucking downloaded it, searched for the lyrics on the net for like two hours, and then went outside, and it was like minus thirty degrees with snow, and I walked and I listened to it from my iPod like a million times. Holy shit, the song is just so…beautiful! It's the best fucking song EVER! Do you have any other suggestions?

**cUt-TilL-aLl-ThE-bLoOd-SeAp... – **HAHA! A quarter on the bathroom floor? Omfg! LOL! HAHAHAHA! No, I wouldn't. I'm like one those really health-freakish people (like Evian). I would NEVER pick it up! Haha. Unless it's like a ten dollar bill or something! LOL! And about how many chapters will be in this fic…well, I know it's going to be long (because I'm a gay writer and it takes me forever to get to the point), so…I don't know. I've got up to 21 chapters on my computer so far. Nonetheless, there WILL be a sequel…so…yeah, this story is important for the sequel. And everything in this story is very important, like even the tiny little details.

**ShadowKat14 – **Omfg, lol, yeah, I have a brother, he's five and a half years younger than me, but I still feel second-best, and my parents make it pretty darn obvious too. I hate it. It makes me feel stupid. It makes me feel like Evian. Ha ha. And the whole thing about Evian not being Tala's sister…I was actually thinking about that…lol…who knows?

**Kasanara – **First of all, it will be KAI/EVIAN. It will! Seriously! I think I just ruined everything here. Haha. It will also be Tala/OC. I think I ruined the story even more now. Oh well. I like being a ruiner, haha. Anyways, about the amount of chapters, like I told another reviewer, there will be a LOT of chapters from the looks of it. I have 21 chapters on the computer so far…and it's still going. Are you scared yet? Lol. There will be a sequel for this story though, like guaranteed, because I have the plot worked out for this story, and parts of the sequel. Don't worry, I know it seems like I'm not getting to the point in this story, but I am. Lol. It will be interesting (even I think so). Lol.

**Majirdiu – **You didn't update your stories! Aw! It's not fair! And I just checked, and my reviews never showed up! WTF! Only one did. I felt so bad. You review my story ALL the time, and my reviews didn't even go. Oh my poo. I'll review again, totally.

**And I didn't forget about these people either: **

****

**Death-star-angel **

**Simply Sakura **

**Caliecookie1991 **

**Wreckless Spirit **

**EAMR – Dude, your story is REALLY good! Update, biatch! **

**KojisGirlfriend42 **

**Sugar911 **

**NightPredator **

**HeartlessDevil **

**THX! R AND R! I'M NOT DONE MY HOMEWORK! SOMEONE HELP ME! OH MY BOOBS! OH AND SEND IN SUGGESTIONS FOR THE SOUNDTRACK! **


	16. Chapter 16

_Waiting for some action, why won't you come over here? _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Sixteen 

It had been a week and a half since Evian's arrival at the hospital. It had also been a week and a half since Kai started avoiding Evian…literally. He wouldn't even talk to her. He wouldn't even look at her. He hated her _more_ than he used to.

Word about her 'stealing' Kai's beyblade spread quickly among the team. Tala wasn't too pleased to hear about the incident, nonetheless, he didn't voice any opinions. He stayed neutral about the matter. Mariah and Ray didn't say anything; however, they hid their beyblades – and other important things – away from Evian. You could never be too safe.

It was Mrs. MaCaffery and Mrs. Hiwatari-Wong's last day in Phoenix, Arizona. Evian was staying a little longer, even though she wanted to go back home and stay away from Hilary and the rest of the team, but her brother made her stay saying he'd be bored with out her around and plus, he just needed someone to pick on for the sake of interestingness.

However, when the three adults decided to go out for lunch on that particular day, Evian was left alone. She walked around the hospital aimlessly for a while, wondering where her brother and the rest of the team were.

Well, the rest of the team _excluding_ Enrique. He wasn't up yet. In fact, the team was starting to give up on him. The tournament was going to start in a week and a half, and most of the teams on flight 182 who lost team members were able to get new members. The Skittles were in a lot of trouble at this point – they were one member short and they really didn't know where to get another team member from, especially since they were in an unknown city.

Evian made her way into the hospital's cafeteria – she was a little hungry. Maybe she could grab a fruit and a carton of milk or something, something light and low in fat.

Once in the cafeteria, she spotted a certain redhead and his 'crew', meaning Kai and Hilary were obviously there as well. But she figured sitting with her brother was better than sitting alone and feeling intimidated by everyone else who _wasn't_ sitting alone. She got her food, and grabbed a chair that was lying around and pulled it beside her brother and sat down. However, once she came to the table, everyone exchanged looks and stopped talking completely.

Evian wasn't stupid; she knew what was going on.

"We were kind of having a private discussion," Hilary spoke first, clearing her throat before she said anything.

"Oh, okay," At first, Evian didn't really know _what_ to say, and she didn't bother thinking of a comeback, it took her too long. She remained quiet instead and began eating her lunch.

"So we're going to have to ask you to leave,"

Evian looked around the table. Mariah just bit her bottom lip, Ray shrugged his shoulders and provided the blonde with a sympathetic look, and Kai looked as if nothing happened as he dipped his fries in ketchup and continued eating; obviously he didn't want her around. Evian looked at Tala. Wasn't he going to say anything? She waited for him to defend her just like she defended him in elementary school. Instead, he gave her that 'you-understand-don't-you?' look. She couldn't believe it; he was picking his friends over _her_?

She didn't waste any time. Angry beyond belief, she grabbed her carton of milk, "Fine, bitches," She stood up abruptly, ready to leave. Someone yanked her arm. She looked at the redhead.

"Ev, look, it's nothing personal, it's just that…"

"Fuck off," She pulled her arm back. She started walking out of the cafeteria. Instead of finishing her meal, she dumped them into the trashcan. She just didn't feel hungry anymore. She followed the arrows that led her towards the hospital parking lot. She made a noise of frustration as she fished out her pack of cigarettes and lit one up quickly to prevent further resentment. She couldn't believe it. She missed school – _and_ a hair salon appointment too – just to visit her stupid, idiotic, brainless, moronic, unhelpful, mean, and rude, prick of a brother.

She exhaled out the smoke. It was so unfair. This was all Hilary's fault! If that bitch didn't jump to conclusions, then none of this would've happened! What angered her the most was how Hilary could be so manipulative! How could everyone fall for it? Especially Tala, him of all people. _And I thought he was smart._ Well, it was kind of weird how Kai was in the same boat. He was apparently a 'genius'. _Yeah right_. She didn't witness any of his 'genius-ness' yet, except in calculus, but even then, he probably had cheat notes or something.

And Ray and Mariah? She expected more from those two. They were supposed to be kind and sincere and _normal_!

She tapped the cigarette butt so the ashes could fall off.

She shook her head in disbelief, "Bitch…" She felt left out. She felt _very_ left out, especially by Tala. It wasn't fair; that son of a bitch wasn't supposed to leave her out or even make her feel that way. He was _her_ brother. He was _hers_! Hers, hers, _hers_! Yes, he was _her_ property, and she owned him! He was her brother! He belonged to her! Alas, a few stupid people had to come along and take him away from her too!

She shook her head in disbelief. She didn't like Tala anymore. She didn't like her parents anymore. She didn't like her friends anymore. She didn't like anything anymore. She didn't even like _herself_ anymore.

"Are you alright?"

She turned around upon reflex and bumped bluntly into someone. She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, "Hey, relax," It was a guy, and he carried a British accent. She looked up, and there, right in front of her, stood the _hottest_ thing _ever_. For a few seconds, she forgot to breathe. He stood there, in his amazing six feet elevation, with his gorgeous golden-orange locks in a cluttered state. He had the most dazzling pale blue eyes and just the most stunning eyelashes for a guy.

"I'm sorry," He had a very soft and gentle tone, "I didn't mean to scare you, nor did I mean to follow you here, but I saw what happened in the cafeteria,"

She probably didn't hear a thing he said. She just wanted to…make out with him! He was _so_ outrageously hot.

"Are you okay?"

She was okay _now_. No, she was _more_ than okay. She was on cloud nine. She smiled absentmindedly, and so did he, and that made her melt. Literally.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

She nodded. She suddenly had a stinging sensation on the tip of her finger, "Oh shit," She dropped the wasted cigarette. She heard him chuckle.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," She went into her purse to search for another cigarette, "I'm food," She went red upon realization, "I mean, I was going to say 'fine', and then I said 'good',"

He smiled at her, "Here you go," He said, taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket; he handed her a lighter as well.

"Thanks!" She grinned, delighted that he was also a smoker because now, she didn't feel weird around him.

"No problem," He slipped out a cigarette for himself. "I'm Brooklyn, by the way," He added once he lit up the cigarette.

"Oh, I'm Evian."

"That's a beautiful name," He smiled at the blonde.

"Thank you," She smiled bashfully, turning slightly pink. "So um, why are you at the hospital?"

"I'm just visiting my auntie,"

"Oh, is she okay?"

"She's _food_," He smirked, exhaling out some of the smoke before clarifying, "She works here. She's a nurse."

"Oh really?" She beamed. He nodded.

"So did you finish your meal?"

"Not exactly," She frowned.

"Yeah, I should've figured," He said. "How about I buy you lunch, hmm?"

She laughed shyly, "Um, no, it's okay, really."

His smile didn't vanish for even a second; it was always there, "C'mon, bill's on me. We'll have lunch, just you and me."

Oh god, was this a date? Holy shit. Was he asking her out? No, probably not.

_Go on! Say yes!_ "Um, okay," She gave in, smiling timidly. The two finished their cigarettes and headed back into the hospital's cafeteria. He ordered just one dish, saying it was big enough for the two of them. She didn't mind – she enjoyed eating from the same plate as he was. It was fried rice, with lots of vegetables, which was a good thing.

They stirred up a conversation. Well actually, she did most of the talking. She told him about Hilary. Then she told him about Kai. And then she told him about Mariah and Ray. And then she bitched about Tala and how she couldn't believe he picked his gay little friends over _her_.

Meanwhile, from the other end of the cafeteria, the redhead watched closely. "Who the fuck is that?" He could see his sister, sitting at a table for two with…some guy. It looked as if they were having a romantic dinner instead of just a casual lunch. Well, not really, but they _were_ sharing the same plate and made Tala think things.

"Just leave her alone, man," Ray said.

"I don't even know who that is, they came into the café together," The redhead said, "And if anything happens to her, my parents are going to kill me."

"Just relax," Mariah suggested.

"It's not like she's going to get raped in a hospital or something," Hilary rolled her eyes. Tala gave her a dirty look. Did that girl _ever_ think before she spoke?

"I'm gonna go over there," He said, getting off his seat. He walked down the aisles of tables and walked over to where his sister was. He grabbed an extra chair and sat down.

The orange haired man looked at him a bit confusingly, and then at the blonde, "Boyfriend?" He asked.

Evian was about to answer, but Tala cut in. "Yes, yes I am." He leaned over and kissed the blonde on the cheek. He looked at the orange haired man and grinned.

"Oh, okay," He kept eyeing the blonde, not knowing _what_ to say to her 'boyfriend'.

"_No_," Evian made a face and looked at her brother disgustedly, "He's my brother,"

"Oh?" The orange haired man looked baffled.

"No, really, I'm her boyfriend, I can even make out with her if you want,"

Evian looked like she was going to _die_. Actually, she looked more like she was going to _kill_ her brother. He really was nasty. God. "I _swear_ he's my brother. I can prove it," She said, and with a quick move, she pulled out her brother's wallet from his pockets, and took out his driver's license. She went into her purse and got out a card with her identification on it. "We have the same last names, see? And the same address."

"Ah, clever," Brooklyn grinned. He then eyed Tala and chuckled slightly, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you; I'm Brooklyn, and you don't have to worry about your sister and I – we're just friends." He extended out his hand for a handshake.

Tala gave in. He was caught. "I'm Tala," accepting the friendly gesture, "I was just messing around," He made an excuse, and took his wallet back from the blonde.

Evian rolled her eyes. Tala wasn't one of those overprotective brothers, no, he was the complete opposite. He didn't give a shit about _who_ she dated, but he always made a dick out of himself when she was around other guys. That's the only thing that scared Evian: her brother's behaviour around Brooklyn. Even though there was a slightly rough start, Brooklyn managed to steer it back on track, giving Evian _some_ hope that things would turn out.

"So, according to those cards you just showed me, you are twins, right?"

"Yeah," Evian exhaled out loudly, not sounding too proud.

"Interesting," Brooklyn said, "You guys don't look alike at all; you're almost as tall as I am," He looked at the redhead, "And really, your sister just looks nothing like you," He smiled, "So when you _first_ told me you were her boyfriend, I actually believed that, you know."

The twins chuckled, "We get that a lot," Evian said, "His friend's mom thought we were like, a couple or something, and then one time, we went to a beyblade store, and the guy who worked there thought I was his girlfriend. It's really disturbing, especially when people are like, oh my god, they look so adorable together."

"You two _do_ look adorable together," Brooklyn smiled, "In a brother-sister kind of way, of course. I mean that. Anyways, I should really be on my way, I told my auntie I'd help her with some things," He prepared to leave, "It was wonderful getting to know you," He looked at Tala, "And your sister is very lovely,"

"I'm sure she is,"

"So I'll see you two around, maybe, alright? Bye," He smiled one last time before turning around and leaving the table. Evian watched Brooklyn leave. She definitely hoped to see him around more often. He was hot. He was charming. He was…

"Better than Enrique?"

"Excuse me?" Evian turned to face the redhead. Better than Enrique? What, was he talking about Brooklyn?

" Brooklyn, do you like him better now?"

Evian turned slightly red, "I like them both equally,"

"You can't like two guys equally, that's called cheating,"

"Yeah, but, you know, I've never really 'liked' Enrique, I just thought he was really good-looking, I told you that, but Brooklyn is…different. He's smart, he's fascinating, and he gets along with you, and I'm sure mom and dad would _adore_ him."

"You're thinking of marriage already?"

"Shut up, you," She kicked the redhead from under the table, "I shouldn't even be talking to you," She crossed her arms.

"_Hey_, I'm sorry, but we were discussing something important,"

"Something that was more important than _me_?" She eyed him. "You know how I am," She wasn't afraid to admit it, "I don't like it when you, or mom or dad, put me second on your list. I want to be first. First, first, _first_. I don't _care_ about Marshal, and I don't _care_ about Kai – I should still be more important than them."

"Hey, don't even _say_ that; you _know_ you're the most important person in the entire world for me, so don't _ever_ say that."

"Oh _yeah_?"

"Yeah!"

"That's not true, don't lie, lying is bad."

He grabbed her arm, "I'm _not_ lying,"

She remembered the time when he left for Arizona. He lied back then. Obviously he left because his team was more important to him than her. Beyblading was more important. Kai, Hilary, Ray, Mariah, Enrique were _all_ more important to him than her. She wasn't first on his list anymore. She knew that, no matter how many times he tried to deny it. She wasn't stupid. She wanted to tell him she wasn't stupid. But she didn't.

She _wasn't_ the most important person in the entire world for him. Other people were. And even when it came to her parents, she wasn't the most important person in the world – _he_ was. That's what hurt the most. That's what made her cry in bed at night sometimes, the thoughts, the facts, the _truth_.

She just wanted to cry. She wanted to run to the bathroom, or some place private, and cry. It wasn't fair.

"Evian?"

"What?"

"You believe me, don't you?"

_No_. She lost his trust. She didn't believe him. But he didn't need to know that. "Yeah, I guess."

"No, I don't want you to guess, I want you to _know_,"

"Yeah, okay, I _know_," She said.

"Tell me honestly,"

"God, what's your problem? I said yes, okay? Yes!"

"There's something bugging you, tell me what's bugging you,"

"_You're_ bugging me." He really _was_ bugging her, always trying to find out what was wrong with her, always pretending to help when he really wasn't. What was the point of telling him anyway? He was probably going to tell Kai and everyone else and they'd all just laugh about it. She _really_ didn't trust him anymore. She didn't trust _anyone_, in fact. She had secrets, and then she had _really_ big secrets. She told Miriam and Evelyn a few things, and she told Tala almost everything, except for the really big things. The big things were for herself and no one else in the entire world. No one else needed to know how she _really_ felt.

"Just tell me,"

"How can you pick your team over me?"

"Excuse me?" He asked, slightly appalled. "What was that?"

"Nothing, never mind," She shook her head. "Forget it,"

"No, tell me."

"_No_, I don't want to. Maybe later, I'll tell you later, when I feel like it."

He let it slide by. He really couldn't force her to say things she didn't want to, but still, it irked him. He wanted to know. What did she mean by picking his team over her?

"Is this about the table thing? I had reasons to not want you there at that time,"

_Reasons that were more important than me?_ She didn't care, really. Well maybe she did, but she didn't want to admit it, not even in her thoughts. _You need to understand, Evian. Tala's not a ninth grader anymore. He doesn't care about you as much as he used to. He's growing up. He needs his space. He can't always solve your problems. This is only the beginning. Pretty soon, you won't even be second on his list; you'll be all the way at the end. _

Reality sucked ass. She hated reality. It came by so drastically and slapped her in the face and left a mark. She wasn't prepared for this.

"We were talking about the team," Tala went on, "And you know how Enrique's still in a coma," He paused, "But we still want to participate in the tournament. But there's a problem. We don't have a sixth member, and we don't think we can wait for him any longer. We only have a week and a half."

"So?"

"So I was thinking, since you have a beyblade now, that maybe, you know, you can be our sixth team member? I'm going to tell you right now so you don't bug me about it later, the whole team _is_ against the decision, especially Kai and Hilary, but its either you join the team, we fill out a few extra forms, and we're in the tournament, or you reject the offer, and we pack our bags, and head home."

The whole team was against the decision? Even Mariah and Ray? Evian felt…gross. She actually _liked_ Mariah, and now that pink haired bitch was siding with Hilary and Kai? Well, Kai _was_ her step brother, but still! And she expected more from Ray! It didn't make any sense, how could she possibly be on a team when _everyone_ on that team disliked her?

Then it finally hit her – Tala was just trying to use her. He just wanted to be in the stupid tournament. He didn't actually _want_ her on the team because if he did, he would've asked before the team was formed. Besides, she sucked at beyblading, she'd never done it before, even though she _had_ one now. She didn't even know why she had one.

"I don't want to be on the team, sorry," She answered flatly.

At first, he looked a bit taken aback; he expected her to _accept_ the offer in gladness! But she didn't. He was crushed. He _really_ wanted to go to the tournament.

"I just can't," She added with a small frown.

"That's okay, I understand, no big deal," He shrugged it off. He got up, "I'm getting kind of homesick anyway. Hey, I'm really tired, I'm gonna go to bed. Wake me up when mom leaves, I wanna say 'bye' to her,"

She nodded. He walked away from the table. She looked around the cafeteria, which was a lot emptier now, since it was past lunch time. She didn't feel too comfortable being alone. She could go look for Brooklyn. She sighed. That would take _forever_. This hospital had twenty floors. She'd _never_ find him.

However, what she didn't know was that _he_ could find her whenever he wanted. Apart from Tala and Kai, she was now a new member on Brooklyn's mental radar.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**People…I am going to rant about my calculus test thatI just bombed today. And I studied. God, I swear, I completely froze. I sat there, and as soon as the teacher put the test on my desk…I totally blanked out. Holy shit. When I'm done posting this chapter, I'm going to go cry… **

**cUt-TilL-aLl-ThE-bLoOd-Seap… - **The song you suggested, Story of a Girl, is that the one by Matchbook Romance? Because I tried to download it, but a whole bunch of artists had the same song title…and I was like…holy crap. Lol.

**Crying Sorceress – **Yes! That DLD song was amazing! Haha. Honestly, I don't know where you get these songs from. MuchMusic (it's a Canadian music channel) doesn't really play anything good anymore. I swear, you turn on the TV, and all you see is like, 50 Cent and his pimp crew, or like, Sum 41 and their…rock crew. Not sure if that made any sense. But seriously, you don't see The Strokes anymore, or like, No Doubt, or anything good. It sucks ass. And yes, I don't like Hilary either.

**EAMR – **Hahahahahha! LOL! Yes, Kai seems to have no dignity. What a dick.

**Death-star-angel – **The noises? Yes! I haven't forgotten about those! Lol.

**Lamanth – **Lol, yes I know, Tala can be really dirty sometimes when talking to his sister. Well actually, my brother can be very dirty sometimes, so I'm just using that. Lol. I swear, my brother is sooooo weird; he'll talk about sex, and boobs, and women, and whatever right in front of me…and he's only 12! Honestly…

**NightPredator – **Hey! You're MY biatch! Lol. Yup! Evian WILL use her beyblade!

**ChaoticPhoenix27 – **Yes I know, I'm trying to get to the point as fast as I can. Me and my stupid writing. Or my brain…

**And thanks to my other minions (HA!): **

****

**Simply Sakura **

**Wreckless Spirit **

**Caliecookie1991 **

**Brat-always-day-and-night **

**HeartlessDevil **

**Sugar911 **

**Kasanara **

**Majirdiu**

**ANDDD…**if any of you are wondering…yes, this WILL be a Kai/Evian story as WELL as a Tala/OC story. Ha, bet you didn't see that coming. Or at least the Tala/OC part. I have plans. Yes I do. Anyways, the faster I upload this chapter, the faster I can go lock myself in the bathroom, become all emo, and cry over my calculus test.


	17. Chapter 17

_Everybody needs some sympathy; Santa seemed to miss my chimney… _

**Dirty Little Secret **

Chapter Seventeen 

Evian sat on the windowsill and looked out the window down at the hotel's massive swimming pool from the sixteenth floor. She sighed, resting her chin down on her knees. With the doctor's consent, The Skittles left the hospital, with the exception of Enrique since he was still in a coma, and took residence at a nearby hotel and got drunk on hard alcoholthe first night, without Mr. MaCaffery ever finding out since he was staying a few hotel rooms away. Nonetheless, Evian didn't take part in any of the 'fun', she only watched everyone in disgust. It was kind of gross watching a whole bunch of drunken teens doing a whole bunch of crazy stuff.

If it wasn't for Evian's supervision, Tala would've almost made out with Ray thinking he was H and M's ex-model Kate Moss or something, Hilary would've ended up pregnant with Kai's child and Mariah would've gone streaking down the hotel corridors.

Evian rolled her eyes at the reminiscence. Idiots. She leaned back and another thought entered her mind: Brooklyn. Sadly, Evian hadn't seen him ever again after their first encounter. Oh well, she'd get over him, just like she sort of got over the millions of other hot guys she had seen before.

The tournament was only two days away, but The Skittles were withdrawn from the BBA tournament since they didn't have a sixth member. The team was preparing to head back home, continue with school, and move on with other things in life.

That's what troubled Evian. She didn't want to feel obligated for the rest of her life. It wasn't like she _didn't_ know how much the tournament meant to her brother. She knew. She knew well. He was hurt, she knew it.

But…she didn't want to move on with the rest of her life knowing she could've been the only person who could've made Tala a lot happier. He _was_ her brother after all, her _baby_ brother. She was older, and psychologically, she felt as if she should be the mature, forgivable one even if he had done something wrong, something to hurt her. She felt bad. She felt guilty.

Maybe she should've accepted the offer when he first asked her. But she didn't consider it an 'offer', she considered it a burden. There were a number of reasons why. First of all, Tala was probably _the_ best blader in all of Toronto, alongside Kai; her brother entered a lot of individual competitions and ended up _winning_ most of them. Next to him, she'd look like an asshole. Mom and dad _already_ liked him better because of his grades, his manners, his skills, and blah, blah, blah. What did she have? Nothing. By being on the team, she'd make herself look like a bigger idiot, and she'd _never_ be able to impress her father.

She didn't want to be on the team.

But she didn't want to upset her brother at the same time.

What was more important? Her status or her brother?

She exhaled out loudly. She didn't want to answer that question. But just because she was comparing her reputation with her brother, didn't mean she didn't care about him. She cared about Tala more than he knew, more than _anyone_ knew. If anyone hurt him – emotionally _or_ physically – she'd kick their ass and that was kind of funny considering she couldn't stand up for herself, but she could defend him.

And she knew that. She had done it before.

The only person that was allowed to annoy Tala, or cuss him off, or wrestle him and send him to the hospital with a broken ankle or a broken whatever, or tell him that he was a moron was _her_. It was _her_ job to do so, and if someone was planning to steal that occupation from her, then that 'someone' was going to get a foot shoved up their ass.

So, by not joining the team, she wouldn't be doing her 'job'. Marshal betrayed Tala. Tala wanted to 'kick his ass', but that wouldn't be possible if he couldn't face Marshal's team during the tournament. In conclusion, in order to 'defend' Tala, she'd _have_ to join the team.

_Why not, Evian?_ That was a good question. What was she so afraid of? Well, she already kind of knew. She was afraid of making an ass out of herself, especially since her father was the coach of the team. She wanted to impress him. She _really_ wanted to show him, and her mom, and everyone else who knew the MaCaffery family that she was just as good – or possibly better – than her brother at _something_. And that something was _not_ beyblading; that was way out of her league.

Come to think of it, _everything_ was out of her league: baseball, school, beyblading, art, music, making friends, this, that. It was frustrating. She felt like ripping out her hair in dismay.

Nonetheless, she made up her mind. She needed to tell him. She decided to head down to the swimming pool, that's where everyone else was. There were a _lot_ of people in the pool. Evian felt slightly queasy, what if someone had lice? What if someone peed in the pool? And anyway, she was just a bit frightened by water. The whole concept of drowning always kicked in, even though she knew how to swim.

She placed a hand over her forehead to keep the sunlight away from her view. She looked around the swimming pool. She spotted Kai and Hilary, _together_, in the corner of the pool, making out and being all 'lovey dovey' and disgusting. But he _did_ look hot in his swim trunks, god; and his body just screamed 'fuck me'. Evian wished Brooklyn was here. Maybe he had a super hot body too.

Evian continued scanning the pool. Aha! There he was, the redhead, trying to flirt around with a bunch of girls in hopes of getting laid tonight or something. She sighed, forget trying, no, he didn't have to try at all, there was a flock of girls around him, young _and_ old. Tala seemed to be enjoying the attention. The only reason why Kai didn't have a cluster of ladies behind his ass was because Hilary scared them away with her fist.

And Ray? Yeah…not only did he get attention from girls, but there were a few guys after him as well. Scary? Totally. Mariah tried to shoo away some of the unwanted attention.

Evian walked around the pathway and headed in the redhead's direction. She bent down, "Hey! Tala! Moron, get over here!"

Tala turned around and frowned and mouthed an 'I'm busy' and eyed the girls, but it was going to take a lot more than that to make his sister go away. She didn't wait for that stupid elevator and come down here for no reason. "Get _over_ here,"

He made a face, saying something to the girls before making his way towards the blonde. "_What_?"

"I want to talk,"

"Hey, not _now_, c'mon," He pleaded, "I'll talk to you later, I swear."

"No, I wanna talk _now_, it's important,"

"What could possibly be more important than hot and sexy Arizona babes in bikinis?"

"_Me_."

"Oh, yeah, that's right, how could I forget?" He rolled his eyes. He heaved himself out of the pool. "What do you want?"

"I know there's just two days left, and I know how much you want to go to the tournament, and I _know_ how much I'll regret things later and feel guilty for the rest of my life, like even when I get married, and even when I have kids, and even when you have kids, and even when my kids have kids and…" She trailed off because judging from her brother's facial expression, he got the point. She walked around the pool, having him follow her by her side. She took a seat on a bench, "And I've just been thinking, a lot,"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say…" She paused, "I want to be on the team."

There was a thirty second pause. "_What_?"

"I said I want to be on the team," She repeated. He looked at her as if she had ten heads.

"_You_ want to be on the team?"

She felt somewhat insulted by his tone. _He_ asked her to join the team in the first place, god, now he was making it look like she was saying something extremely insane. "It's not that I _want_ to, it's more because – holy shit!" Before she could finish her reasoning, she was lifted off the bench and being spun around.

"I love you! I love you! I _love_ you!" He put the blonde down on the ground, who, at this point, looked very terrified by her brother. He kissed her on the forehead a million times. "You have _no_ idea how happy I am! You have no, no, _no_ idea! Oh my god! Let's go shopping! And then we can go get some fat-free ice cream!"

By now, everyone in the pool, and everyone around the area had their eyes on the redhead. The herd of girls looked at him with utter disgust because they thought he was gay – who wouldn't have, after his fat-free ice cream statement? Other than male models, what kind of a guy gave a shit about the kind of ice cream they consumed?

That night, instead of fooling around right after dinner, The Skittles went straight to training, but with Evian newly on the team, that was a complete disaster. First of all, she had _no_ idea what she was doing, and the unknown beyblading terminology really got to her. Second, everything about the team had to be reconfigured, and that meant the pairings also. No one wanted to be paired with Evian for clear reasons, although Mariah and Ray made it a lot _less_ obvious than Kai and Hilary who just spoke bluntly about why they couldn't be partnered with their team captain's sister.

_"She's way too slow. I can't work with slow." _

_"Kai's right. And I only blade with professionals, no 'noobs'." _

In the end, Evian was paired with her brother, and that was sort of okay since that's what Tala was kind of trying to aim for. Kai and Hilary were partnered up, not because they were a couple – even though that was half the reason why – but because they made a pretty strong duo. That left Ray and Mariah, and that worked out perfectly. Mr. MaCaffery was fine with the decisions, and so was the team.

Mr. MaCaffery wanted everyone in bed by ten o'clock because he wanted them to train _extra_ hard in the morning since Evian was the weakest link on the team and she dragged the entire team down with her. That was clearly evident during practice.

Instead of sleeping like she was supposed to, Evian snuck out of her hotel room she shared with Hilary and Mariah, and went out for a smoke instead. She needed one. She wanted to think clearly. She wanted to…feel better. Her first day of training sucked ass because of _some_ people that didn't know how to treat people nicely! She thought about Kai and Hilary. God. She just wanted to tear those two apart, rip them into shreds, put their shreds into a sauce pan, fry them on medium-high heat for ten minutes, and feed their fried shreds to poor people. But that would be cannibalism and a lot of people looked down on that. Damn.

But really, the team would've been _so_ much better without those two. Kai was really handsome, but his personality reeked. He was a jackass. She wanted to throw eggs at him. And Hilary was a bitch that needed to be murdered. Oh, and maybe once she was murdered, Evian could throw eggs at her too, at her funeral.

Really now, their comments about her during training today, were uncalled for. Evian hated criticism, be it constructive criticism, or destructive criticism. Even though she disliked Kai and Hilary, and tried to avoid them, their statements made her cry…

She didn't want to be on the team anymore. She didn't want to go to bed, and then wake up, knowing she'd be training again with _them_. Even Mariah wouldn't talk to Evian as much as she used to. She just wanted to go and kill them all, even her brother. She hated being on the team! She hated it!

She tried not to make too much noise as she cried; she didn't want people on the streets looking at her. She wiped her face with her hands constantly, but that didn't seem to stop the small, warm, salty droplets of water from flooding her eyes. She finished her cigarette, and just when she was about to leave, she heard someone call out her name from behind her.

She turned her head and nearly died when she saw who it was. " _Brooklyn_?"

He smiled and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "Still remember me?"

"Yeah! Oh my god! I haven't seen you in like, _forever_! I didn't see you at the hospital anymore; I thought you left for good. Oh my god. I can't believe you're actually here!" She heard him chuckle.

"Leave? I can't, not until a few days at least," He grinned.

"Why not?"

"There's a BBA tournament, remember? I'm here with my team, and decided to visit my auntie at the same time. You know, killing two birds with one stone," He beamed.

"_You_ beyblade?"

"Of course I do! Don't _you_?"

"Well, I don't know," She said, "What happened was…" She explained the whole situation to him, starting with when she first got her beyblade, and what happened today.

"Kai and Hilary sound like very mean people,"

Evian nodded, "They are, oh my god," She rolled her eyes, "I hate them so much." She sighed, "Anyways, so, why are you out here? At this time?"

"Oh, you know, just needed some fresh air, like you did," He told her, "But I should get going or else my team's gonna start looking for me and freak out once they realize I'm not in bed."

"Yeah, same here; my dad's going to _kill_ me if he finds out I'm outside at this hour," She laughed slightly.

"Alright Evian, I'll see you around. I'm staying a few blocks away from here, at the other hotel, so we might even see each other again, you know?"

"Yeah, I hope so," _GOD, I hope so!_ She looked at him one last time. Oh, he was _so_ hot. He waved at her and then left. She sighed. Okay, so he was on a team as well, so maybe being on a team wasn't so bad. She might see a lot more of Brooklyn from now on. She smiled to herself. She felt happy. Seeing him made her happy, especially after such a long time. It sucked that he had to leave so soon. They hadn't even talked for more than ten minutes.

Evian went back to the hotel. She took the elevator to the sixteenth floor. She walked down the hallway, which was shaped like a 'T', remembering to make a _left_ turn, and not a right turn, at the end of this hallway. However, as she made her turn at the end of this hallway, she crashed into another being, and _man_ was that painful for her boobs. She was kind of afraid. It was pretty late at night, a little after midnight. What if she bumped into some drunk guy who wanted to rape her or something? She moved back right away in caution, but once she realized _who_ this person was she was somewhat relieved, but mostly just plain intimidated.

There stood Kai, with his arms crossed, looking down at her rather pissed. Looks like he wasn't getting any sleep either. He was dressed in a pair of navy shorts and a plain white t-shirt. Scratch that, boxers…they were boxers, not shorts.

"Sorry," She apologized first. Maybe if she was nice to him, he'd be nice to her, and it would be the end of all those mean comments. But no, he walked right past her with a light shove, which he obviously did on purpose, and continued his little 'walking-down-the-hallway' journey. She stuck out her middle finger at him when he wasn't looking. _Asshole._

**x x x **

Evian woke up feeling slightly agitated the next morning. Nonetheless, she forced herself off bed, took a quick shower, blow-dried her hair, and waited in the guys' room with her brother for everyone else to get ready for breakfast. She sat there, on the edge of her brother's unmade bed, examining her beyblade. She still felt weird having one. Nonetheless, the beyblade itself _was_ very cool…and pretty!

But the beyblade looked like any other beyblade she had seen before. What was so special about hers? What was so special about anyone's? Well, apparently everyone had _something_ that made their blade unique and different from others.

She analyzed her beyblade carefully. The first thing she noticed was the empty bit chip. Well gee, that didn't exactly make her 'special' from the rest of the people on her team, it just made her look bad. Everyone had a bit beast. Hilary had Aphrodite. Mariah had Galux. Her brother had Wolborg. Kai had Dranzer. And Ray had Drigger. She had…nothing. She sighed, well now she knew _one_ thing that made her beyblade 'different' from everyone else on the team.

She continued to inspect her beyblade. The next thing she noticed was the colour – her beyblade _had _no colour. It was see-through. She didn't mind. She actually liked that. The beyblade itself was kind of small. She could almost make a fist around it. The beyblade had four spikes, all curved on the left, but then again, every blade had a few spikes and points.

"Where's my blade?"

Evian looked up to see – dun, dun, dun – Kai. She literally felt discouraged around him, around his _atmosphere_. Maybe it was because he was just so _tall_ and he just towered over her. Or maybe it wasn't his height at all; Tala was just as tall as Kai and she didn't feel as intimidated around him as she did around Kai. But that was probably because Tala was her brother and she was always around him and he _never_ made her feel discouraged, and when he did, it was unintentional. But Kai did it on purpose. He made her feel like crap deliberately. And he even had back up – he had Hilary, he had Mariah, he had Ray, and there was a slim possibility that her own brother was siding with Kai and his gang now. How depressing.

"I didn't take it,"

"I wasn't asking you,"

"There's no one else in this room," She protested. He _was_ asking her. Tala was still in the shower and Ray went to check up on Mariah and Hilary. How stupid did Kai think she was? Just because she had blonde hair didn't mean she didn't have any common sense. And just because he had caught her with _his_ beyblade in her hands _once_, didn't mean she stole it. "And your beyblade's right _there_," She pointed beside the small television set on the dresser.

She looked back at Kai. His cheeks turned a rosy colour and he looked as if he didn't know what to say. He _didn't_. He remained quiet and paced over to the dresser and picked up the blue beyblade he owned. Without a 'thank you' or anything, he exited the hotel room.

Evian rolled her eyes. Kai was a bigger moron than Tala.

By nine, everyone was at the breakfast table at the hotel's dining hall, including Mr. MaCaffery. The waiter walked around the table and took everyone's order. While waiting for their breakfast, Mr. MaCaffery laid out the plans for today, "We're going to train longer than usual today, as the extra practice is _mandatory_," He eyed Evian, "And we're going to help each other out today, alright? We've only got today to train and then tomorrow, you guys have your first match. This might sound harsh, but it's highly unlikely that you will win tomorrow, due to obvious reasons. First of all, none of you were mentally prepared to enter the tournament since you didn't have a sixth team member. And there's other reasons, I'm sure we're aware of that,"

Evian knew what that meant. _She_ was the main reason for the team's unsuccessfulness; she knew that, she was fully aware of it. She felt like an idiot. She _really_ hated being on this team, and it had only been a day. She felt so dumb around everyone else.

After breakfast, it was time for training, and just like Mr. MaCaffery had said, training was a _lot_ longer and a lot harder than before. Even Tala requested for a recess, but Mr. MaCaffery refused. Nonetheless, Kai was the only person who was allowed a few breaks every now and then since he was claustrophobic and got all 'weird' every twenty minutes.

By the second hour of training, everyone was starting to get a bit cranky, especially Evian. Receiving unwanted comments from Kai and Hilary was _one_ thing, but she was getting peeved at her father even more; he was constantly complaining about her 'weak launch' and her 'incorrect way of holding the launcher' and her 'improper posture' and 'this' and 'that'.

"Watch your brother," He kept saying, "See how Tala is doing it?"

She didn't like it when he said that. She didn't like being compared with Tala. It made her feel stupid. It made her slightly…jealous. She just wanted to kill her brother, seriously.

She needed a cigarette, god.

When training finally did end, everyone was dead. Literally. The guys all went straight to bed and slept like cows. Mariah and Hilary hung out by the pool and just relaxed. Evian went to a nearby park for a smoke and some alone time.

She sat under a tree, away from the public, and picked the petals off a dandelion. She wished Brooklyn was here. He _did_ say he was staying at a hotel just around this area. She wanted to talk to him. Actually, she just wanted to sit and stare at him all day long.

She continued picking off the petals until…

_Thud._

Her head shot up; did she really hear something?

_Thud._

She hadn't heard that noise in a while, and now she was hearing it again, all of a sudden. But the noise was so _close_. Brushing off the petals, she stood up. She looked around; there was no sign of people. There was no sign of _anything_. She was completely alone.

_Thud._

Now she was scared. The noise kept coming. And from the sound of it, it felt as if it was coming from…behind the tree. _Don't look. Don't look. Don't look._ And she didn't, but that didn't necessarily mean whatever was hiding behind the tree didn't want to look at her either.

Once it did make an appearance however, Evian's heart stopped beating – _literally_. She stood there absolutely paralyzed and not even a single strand of hair made movement. Inches before her stood a fox…or a wolf…or something of the like; she didn't know. It was as tall as her knees, but still scary looking. It had the sharpest teeth in the world and looked just about ready to sink its fangs into her flesh. Its fur was a burgundy colour and it had a white-tipped tail. _Help me god. Help me god. Help me god. I swear I'll be good. I won't sin. I'll never sin. I swear._

The creature growled, making her jump. It took a step towards her. She took a step back. Angered, or at least Evian thought it was angry, the red-furred creature emitted a low and irritated snarl. And then it made its attack. It leapt towards the blonde.

She screamed, moving out of the way quickly, stumbling backwards, and falling on her behind. She felt hot tears slide down her cheeks at an alarming rate, one after another. But she didn't make a sound – she _couldn't_ make a sound. All she wanted right now was Tala to be right here, shooing away this…_thing_, or her dad, or…Kai…or possibly Brooklyn, or just 'some guy' who could protect her from this beast. It stood just millimeters away from. It stared at her, almost as if examining her, trying to figure her out.

And it must've.

It vanished. It _literally_ vanished in thin air, leaving a swirl of pink dust following…as well as a folder. It was a normal black folder appropriate for containing office papers or a business report.

Evian blinked several times before scrambling over to the item that was left behind by the…creature. She eyed the vinyl folder before picking up. It wasn't too heavy, indicating it carried only a few papers. She opened the folder surprised to find a paper filled with writing in Russian or Swedish or something. She wasn't Russian. She wasn't Swedish either. She couldn't read the content. Dismayed, she flipped a few pages that were filled with the foreign language. She stopped once she came across a name, a name that belonged to someone that she loved more than she loved herself: Tala Bradley MaCaffery. She made a face, reading the words printed on the page, thanking god that it was finally written in English and not in some language she didn't know how to interpret.

What the fuck.

The information displayed on the page was basic, but personal:

_Full Name: Tala Bradley MaCaffery _

_Sex: Male _

_Date of Registration: __July 17, 1991_

_Date of Withdrawal: August 21, 1999 _

_Date of Birth: September 12, 1987 _

_Place of Birth: __Ontario_ _Canada_

_Blood Type: AB _

_Legal Guardian: Father – Brandon MaCaffery; Mother – Ashlyn MaCaffery _

_Medical Information: Severely allergic to bees, EpiPen located in main office _

The page continued with further private documentation on her brother. Nonetheless, she didn't understand; she didn't understand what was meant by 'date of registration' and 'date of withdrawal' and why information such as yearly family income was also provided in the fact sheet. At the bottom of the sheet was a paragraph written in the language she had seen in earlier pages and she couldn't read it.

She flipped through the pages and paused once again, this time stopping on a page full of personal citations that belonged to…

_Full Name: Kai Hiwatari _

_Sex: Male _

_Date of Registration: June 2, 1990 _

_Date of Withdrawal: August 21, 1999 _

_Date of Birth: March 4, 1987 _

_Place of Birth: __Quebec_ _Canada_

_Blood Type: O _

_Legal Guardian: Father – Jullien Hiwatari; Timothy Wong as of 1992; Mother – Grace Hiwatari _

_Medical Information: None. _

And of course, the page contained other information that Evian didn't need to know, like the surprising fact that Kai came from an _extremely_ wealthy family. According to what she read, his grandparents – from his father's side – were filthy rich and apparently Kai was their only grandson so he was going to become heir to _everything_, and that included loads of money and land property in France.

Nonetheless, there was a pattern: the date of withdrawal was the same for Tala and Kai. And they were both registered around the summer, although there was a difference of one year.

And that's when Evian realized something fishy was going on. Ever since Tala was four, he went to Vancouver for a month and a half over the summer to visit Grandma Eileen. He stopped when he was twelve – in 1999. That was the same year of his withdrawal from wherever. The point was, if mom and dad had signed him up for boys' scout or something of the like while he was in Vancouver, Evian would know. But he wasn't; he never said anything. All Evian knew was he went to visit their grandmother and have fun with a few distant cousins while he was there.

This was strange. Strange times called for a lighter and a pack of cigarettes.

She wondered why _she_ was never sent across the nation to visit her grandmother. It was always Tala. Evian had only seen her grandma a few times, on Christmas and her birthdays. And these distant cousins her parents and brother talked about, she had never met or seen or talked to.

"Evian?"

Startled, the blonde closed the folder hastily and turned around. "I thought you were sleeping," She sat on the black folder, trying to hide it from view, but that was useless. Her brother had already noticed it. He didn't look too happy. In fact, he had that pissed-off look on his face, the same one he had when he found out that Marshal had a team and all that jazz. It was weird to see her brother so angry; Tala was always so _stable_. He was never _extremely _angry or _extremely_ happy; he was _normal_.

"Can I have that back, please?" He held out his hand. Did he know? Did he _know_ what was inside the folder? It made her wonder how long he had been standing behind her, watching her, _spying_ on her.

"Have what back? My English homework?" She rolled her eyes, trying to make her story believable.

"Ev, this isn't funny; there's confidential stuff in there and you _really_ shouldn't be messing around with it,"

"What's so confidential about my English homework?" She stood up, holding the folder securely using both hands.

"_Evian_…" He made a grab for the folder, and missed it by a mile. She didn't understand why he was acting so strange. It made her curious.

"It's mine," She protested, "Finders, _keepers_,"

"We're not six anymore," He referred to the time when _everyone _their age used that idiom, "Give it back,"

"Why?" She questioned, hiding the folder behind her back.

"Where'd you get it from?"

"Who wants to know?"

"_I_ do, now give it back."

"_No_." And with that, she ran. And she knew that was the silliest thing to do. He was a lot faster and he'd probably catch up to her in a split second. But when he didn't, she stopped. She turned around, panting, with the folder still locked in her grip. Where'd he go? She scanned the area. He was _nowhere_. Something wasn't right. Oh well, she should probably just head back to the hotel. She turned around, ready to get back to the hotel.

Big mistake.

She bumped head on into…_Kai_? Well, he _was_ partially involved with whatever. Evian stepped backwards and she bumped into yet another being: Tala.

"What do you guys _want_?" She asked, holding the folder tightly.

"The folder," Kai said. "Give it."

"_No_. It's mine. Mine, mine, mine!"

"Look Evian, we'll make a pact, and the three of us keep our mouths shut. Just give me the folder."

Give him the folder? And let her curiosity linger for eternity? Yeah right! Did Tala not know her well enough? Was he an idiot? Nonetheless, despite her rights, she was somewhat fearful. Then again, her brother would never hurt her, intentionally at least, and he'd never let someone _else_ hurt her either, right? He wouldn't let Kai _do_ anything to her, right? For some reason, the answer to that question remained a mystery.

"No, it's my folder. I'm not going to give it back." With that, the blonde stuffed the folder under her shirt. Ha. Now what were they going to do?

Tackle her to the ground and _fight_ for it, that's what.

"Oh my _god_, get off me!" The blonde shrieked, trying to shove the redhead off her.

"Kai! Get the folder!"

The folder? The folder! _Save the folder, Evian! It's yours!_ She tried to roll over, or just move around and make it difficult for them to attain the folder. But it wasn't working! It wasn't fair! Tala had an advantage! He was a lot stronger than her, he weighed a ton, not to mention, he had a friend helping him out! This was getting out of hand.

She was getting angrier and angrier as the seconds passed by. That was it! If he wanted a fight, he was going to get a fight!

She mustered up all her strength her little body contained, "Get…off…_me_!" She pushed the redhead away from her. He looked a bit stunned. But the fight wasn't over, not for _her_ at least. "Jackass!" She attacked him, pinning him to the ground just like he had a few seconds ago.

"Evian! Let me go!"

"_No_!"

"Fuck, you're hurting me!"

"So?" Ha. She was winning. The jackass should've known better. She fought like a girl with strangers, but with Tala, it was more like a full-out wrestling match, kind of like the ones that happened in a cage in _WWE_.

"Fine, bitch,"

Kai didn't bother physically interfering with the brother-sister war that was taking place just a mere two feet away from him. Instead, he spotted the folder. He looked over at the fight; he wasn't sure who was winning. One minute, Evian had her brother eating grass as she sat on his back, and the next minute, Tala was half-refraining himself from strangling his sister.

Rolling his eyes at the outrageous competition, Kai made his way towards the folder that was lying around unsupervised. Nonetheless, something beat him to it. He stumbled backwards in fright as a massive bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and aimed for the folder.

By now, the siblings had stopped trying to rip each apart and had their eyes at the strange event. The weather outside the beautiful: sun-drenched and hot. There were absolute no clouds in the sky. The lightning was unscientific and completely defied the laws of earth and weather.

The folder, along with everything inside, was completely destroyed as the lightning made contact with it. All that was left was dust. Pink dust.

The three teens were completely bowled over. What the hell was _that_? What just happened was completely unexplainable.

Kai stared at the mound of pink dust, still scared to move. Even Tala was scared stiff.

Nonetheless, the first one to make a move was Evian. She crawled over to the pink dust and touched it. She glanced over at Kai and Tala angrily, "Look what you did _now_, you dip fucks! Now no one gets the folder!" With that, she got to her feet and stormed away furiously.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**PEOPLE! Remember that calculus test? Haha! I actually did really well on it! Omfg! I was like, holy boobies when I got my test back. Wow. I worried over it – and cried over it – for no reason! Haha! I'm so happy, I can strip naked and run around in a corn field! …that's not going to happen, don't worry. **

**Crying Sorceress – **Yup, there IS a 'dirty little secret', which all of you will find out in the end. It's kind of obvious as the story goes along, I think.

**Lady-Nikki – **Oh my poo! Your review made me want to get some fat-free mint chocolate chip ice cream! Lol! And you're only 14? Holy shit. You have an amazing vocab and writing style! Jeez! When I was 14, I think was still shitting in diapers, like seriously. Wow. Go you!

**EAMR – **Haha, discontinue this fic? Guess you saw what happened to my other ones. I'm so glad I'm still continuing this. I've never went past the tenth chapter for ANY fic, in my entire life. Seriously. I don't know, I REALLY like this fic!

**cUt-TilL-aLl-ThE-bLoOd-SeAp… - **_The big things were for herself and no one else in the entire world. No one else needed to know how she really felt_. I know what you mean. For me, that was like my little journal entry. That's how I feel. I think that's how everyone feels, even the happiest people alive. Hell, I'm probably the happiest person alive, haha, but still, I've got problems that no one needs to know about. Then again, you probably already know, I mean, Evian is literally an autobiographical character. It's like I _am_ Evian. I have a brother, I'm always compared to him even though he's five and a half years younger, and I always feel second best. But I love my brother; I don't think I'm jealous of him. The only thing that bugs me is the fact that my parents like him more than me. Or at least that's how I feel.

**HIEI LOVERS – **She used her blade! Sort of, haha.

**HeartlessDevil – **Yup, Brooklyn is that clown guy. She can't recognize him because other people have orange hair too. Lol. She can't just assume it's him by his hair. Haha.

**Majirdiu – **Girl! You need to update your fic! God! Lol. And you didn't eat anything? BAD! Don't do that! I should be talking. Lol. I lost 4 pounds, haha.

**And thank you to… **

**Sugar911 **

**Bloodstainedmoon **

**Simply Sakura **

**CrazygirlHaley5555 **

**Wreckless Spirit **

**NightPredator **

**Death-star-angel **

**Lamanth **

**Caliecookie1991 **

**XxMookinexX **

**ChaoticPhoenix27 **

**Kasanara **

**XOSAF (God, you bitch, I love your reviews! Lol. Yeah, when you 'disappeared', I was like…hmm, maybe she doesn't like my story anymore, lol. I got kinda worried!) **

**Monchan **

**ANDDDDDD…**interesting news, lol…I LOST 5 POUNDS! YES! Sorry, haha, just had to mention that. God, I was soooo happy today! Seriously, I tell you guys like everything. Haha. But I kind of lost TOO much weight accidentally. My 12 year old brother can like give me a piggy back ride, haha.

**OH!** Fuck, I missed the season premiere for America's Next Top Model! I was so mad! Stupid school! God! Anyone see it? Tell me what happened! Lol. Please?


	18. Chapter 18

_Everything is unconditional…_

**Dirty Little Secret **Eighteen

Evian walked down the aisles, passing numerous machines and large cylindrical cells made of glass or plastic or some kind of transparent material. For some reason, her hands were tightly wrapped around a metal bar, roughly one meter in length and an inch in diameter.

Someone walked with her, by her side. It must've been a companion because she didn't mind him or her walking right beside her.

Suddenly, she heard something. It sounded as if someone was banging on windows, or…something. But it was so faint. She looked in all directions trying to identify where the noise was coming from. She began jogging down the aisles, and it didn't take her long to spot where the sound was coming from.

She gasped in utter terror; nonetheless, there was also a slight sensation of relief somewhere in the back of her mind. Dropping the steel bar, she ran up to one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of cells. Contained in the partition was her diary, her best friend, her _brother_. He didn't like being in there, trapped in a cramped little cell with cuts and bruises all over him, anxiously waiting for his pending doom. Or perhaps it was _her_ doom.

It probably hurt her to see Tala in there _more_ than it actually hurt him to _be_ in there. He looked tormented. And that made Evian angry. She didn't like seeing him in anguish. _No_ one had the right to treat her brother like that – like trash, like a lab rat, like…an experiment. He was _her_ brother, not anyone else's underling.

She watched as the redhead pounded on the glass material with his fists, shouting something, but she couldn't hear him. The material was soundproof.

She touched the clear material that separated her from her brother. Once she realized how thick it was, nervousness washed over her. She felt nauseas. She felt sick. She literally felt like throwing up, right here, and right now.

What if she could _never_ get him out of there? What if she could never see her brother ever again?

Suddenly, everything started to lighten. The distance between her and her trapped sibling got bigger. Things started to fade, and like a supernova, everything collapsed on itself and everything went inky black.

Well, what in blue hell? Evian looked around the blackness. And that's when she realized, she wasn't exactly _looking_; her eyes were closed. Groaning, she opened them slightly. She was greeted by strands of blonde hair. Evian flopped on her abdomen and lay in her bed for a few seconds. She raised her head and looked around the room. Hilary and Mariah were…not in bed. Evian could hear the water running from the washroom and the sound from the television.

"You're finally up,"

Evian's head shot up, looking in the direction of the voice. She spotted Mariah in front of the dresser with a hair straightener in her hands.

"We have a competition today, remember? Hilary's almost done in the washroom so you can go right after her," The pink haired girl continued.

Nonetheless, Evian wasn't entirely listening. She thought back on her…_dream_. That's what it was. It was a dream. It wasn't real. But still, it upset her. It disturbed her so much. The set up of her dream was just so odd. She felt troubled, especially since she treated her brother like dirt yesterday, after the folder incident. She didn't talk to him, and even when he tried apologizing, she was being rude and bitchy. Sure it wasn't _his_ fault the folder was zapped by an unanticipated lightning into baby pink glittery dust. Maybe it was Kai's fault. Maybe it was no one's fault. Or maybe she was just never meant to have the folder all to herself.

Pushing the fresh image of her dream and the thought about the folder to back of her mind, she withdrew from her bed and yawned, "Are the guys up yet?"

"Probably," Mariah shrugged, "Tala came by like thirty minutes ago to check up on you,"

"Why?"

"He wanted to talk. He told me he doesn't like it when you don't talk to him."

"Oh…"

By five to nine, when Evian was dressed in clothes for the day and all-set, she decided to pay a visit to the guys' room, mainly for her brother. She knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds.

"Who is it?"

"It's me," The blonde answered, recognizing her brother's voice right away.

"Me who?"

"_Me_. Evian. Open the door. I wanna talk to you."

"I can only open the door if you know the password."

Evian frowned. What a moron. He always used to say that when she wanted to enter his room when they were much younger. His passwords were always something stupid and predictable like 'Tala is better than Evian' or 'Evian sucks' or 'Tala is the best', and the like. Come to think of it, Evian actually missed those good old days, even though Tala was kind of annoying. But then again, weren't all ten year olds annoying? "Open the door," Evian sighed, "Or I'm going to leave."

The door gradually opened, and there stood the tall, smirking redhead, "So you're finally here to apologize,"

"_No_, I came here to hear _you_ apologize."

"For what?"

"For being a fag," She crossed her arms. "It was mine." She referred to the folder.

"Evian, I _told_ you. There was 'stuff' in there."

"How do you know about that folder anyway? Why are you being so secretive about a stupid, black folder? I think I deserve to know. I tell _you_ everything. It's not fair." She furrowed her eyebrows. She felt a tantrum on its way. It wasn't fair! It was her folder! How come she told Tala almost everything and here he was, hiding god-knows-what from her? It just wasn't fair! She had a right to know!

"It's nothing,"

"It's _something_. And I want to know what. I swear I won't tell anyone."

"I know you won't tell anyone, Evian; I trust you, but it's not about that. Besides, it's a long story."

"I have time."

"Not really," He disagreed, "It's time for breakfast and I'm hungry. Let's go." He shut the door behind him and began walking down the hallway towards the elevator to get downstairs to the hotel's eatery. She followed closely.

"So when can I know then?"

"When I feel like telling you…" He stuffed his hands in his pockets and eyed the ground absentmindedly.

"And when's that?"

"Evian…"

"What?"

"Stop being nosey."

"I'm not being nosey. I just want to know what you're hiding from me. Why can't I know?"

"Because I'm not allowed to tell you, okay?"

"Who says?"

"Mom and dad says."

She looked a bit taken aback. Mom and dad restricted her own brother from telling her something? Wait, this meant her parents were a part of this too, and _that_ meant that she was the only family member who was clueless. How unfair – and degrading – was that? Her expression changed, and she looked hurt. How come she couldn't know? How come everyone else in her family knew except her?

And…how was Kai involved with _any_ of this?

"Look, I'm sorry; we just don't think it's appropriate to tell you."

"_We_?" Evian repeated.

"Mom and dad and me. Please don't ask me anymore questions."

She obeyed. She didn't ask anymore questions, but only because she was emotionally scarred. Who knew a few minutes of talking to your own brother could do so much damage? She felt…excluded. She didn't feel like she was part of the family. She didn't feel like a 'MaCaffery'. It was bad enough not being able to fit into different kinds of people at school and being unwanted on this team, but it was _worse_ to know she was excluded from her own family too. She felt left out. She felt…betrayed.

If the hotel's eatery was empty and no one was here, she would cry.

_"We just don't think it's appropriate to tell you."_

Every time she recalled that line, she felt her eyes water. The word 'we' made such a difference. The word 'we' made her feel lame and valueless. The word 'we' meant Brandon MaCaffery and Ashlyn MaCaffery and Tala MaCaffery _except_ Evian MaCaffery. She was a part of this family, wasn't she? She shouldn't have been left out. She should've known about what ever it was she didn't know about.

"Evian, you haven't touched your breakfast," Mr. MaCaffery interrupted her trail of thoughts, "You know better; breakfast is the most important meal of the day _and_ you have a competition to attend today."

"I'm full." She really was. She felt full. She just didn't feel like eating the rest of her blueberry pancakes.

"But you didn't even finish half. You're not on a diet, are you?"

She shook her head, "No."

"Diets not work, Evian." Mariah added. "If you're trying to lose weight, and I really don't see a need for that, you should try losing it the healthy way."

"I'm not on a diet." Evian repeated, somewhat angrily this time. "I'm…I'm not." She continued poking at her food with no appetite. She felt someone grab her hand from under the table, and by the feel of the hand, she knew who it belonged to instantly. The hold was firm but gentle. Evian knew what that meant; it meant Tala was sorry and he didn't want her to waste her time worrying over 'nothing'. While she was still offended, Evian decided to smile and be joyful. The act fooled everyone. It even fooled herself, because at times, she forgot she was only pretending.

By ten o'clock, two taxis were waiting in front of the hotel for the team. Because of their late registration to the BBA, all BBA busses were booked in advance, and they were left with nothing. Three people had to squish into each taxi. At first, Mr. MaCaffery suggested that the girls get into one taxi, and the guys get into another, but Hilary wanted to sit with Kai, and then Mariah said she'd sit with Ray and Tala instead, but Evian wasn't okay with the plan since that left her to sit with Kai and Hilary.

In the end, after much fuss, Evian sat with Ray and Tala, with Mr. MaCaffery in the front in the passenger seat beside the taxi driver. Mariah, Hilary and her man candy were in the other taxi.

Nonetheless, once Evian got in the car, she regretted it.

"- and we'll all be sweaty and sticky and nasty and dirty and everyone will be touching everyone because we're all sitting so close to each other, and if one us gets carsick, like me for example, and if we have to puke, then we'll puke all over each other and…"

Evian whacked the redhead upside the head, "Shut up, oh my god, that's _gross_,"

He grinned, noticing the fact that she was lightening up a little after her very short period of 'depression', "And…"

"Be quiet! Dad! Tell him to be quiet!"

"Tala, please don't bother your sister, and besides, your stories are making me fairly nauseous as well," Mr. MaCaffery said, looking at his son from the rearview mirror.

"But I was just being scientific," The redhead shrugged. Ray snickered.

They arrived at the BBA Arena slightly late, but that was okay. They checked what they needed to check before everyone split up. Kai and Hilary went off someplace _private_. Tala, Ray, and Mariah went to the food court.

That left Evian by herself. She wondered around the arena for a while, getting lost a few times and then finally bumping into…

" Brooklyn! Oh my god! What are you doing _here_?" She couldn't contain her excitement. Brooklyn was here! He was here! _Here_! She wasn't _pretending_ to be happy anymore, this was _real_.

"Heard your team was battling today," He smiled, "So I thought I'd drop by to watch you battle."

She was so flattered. He came _here_ just to see _her_? Wow. But that was kind of discomforting. He was here to watch her _lose_. Great. She wanted to impress him, not show him she was a complete and utter loser who knew _nothing_ about beyblaing. Damn. "Oh my god, you really don't want to," She rolled her eyes, "I _suck_. I think I'm the worst beyblader ever."

"Don't worry about it, it's your first battle after all," He encouraged. "I admire your bravery; joining the team, actually wanting to battle and not being full-out cocky like all the other bladers here,"

She smiled, not having anything to say, really. Brooklyn was so sweet! She wanted to get married to him! She wanted to get married to him, live by the lakeside far away from her parents and her brother because they probably didn't want her around either, have two children, and live happily ever after! Brooklyn was perfect!

"So where's the rest of your team?" He asked.

"My brother's pigging out on brownies with Mariah and Ray," She said, "And Kai and Hilary are probably having like, quick sex somewhere." She rolled her eyes. "And I'm just, you know, bored."

"Bored?" He raised an eyebrow, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were pondering. Something is bugging you, am I right?"

She found it unusually brilliant how Brooklyn was so alert. What amused her more was the fact that he didn't even know her, yet he _knew_ her. It was twisted.

"You look so distressed," He continued, smiling sympathetically, "It doesn't suit you." He chuckled.

She shrugged her shoulders, "It's nothing _big_. It's just that, this morning, my brother said something. He said he couldn't tell me something. He also said my parents knew about it and they didn't want me to know either."

"That's not very nice," Brooklyn voiced his opinion on the matter right away. "That's your family. Families shouldn't be hiding anything from each other, unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless they have trust issues." He finished. "I have reason to believe Tala does not trust you enough to tell you."

"But he said he trusts me."

"Ah, right. He _said_ so. But does he mean so?"

"That's…a good question. But why shouldn't he trust me? It's not like I'm going to go around and tell everyone his little 'secret'. I love gossip, but I'd never say anything about him. He's my brother. He _knows_ I'd never spread rumors about him."

"Maybe it's not the factor of trust at all. Maybe he just doesn't feel _comfortable_ telling you."

"Why wouldn't he? He's so open about other things…like girls. He'll tell me who he likes, he'll tell me who he doesn't like, you know. And it's not like I'd ever make him feel uncomfortable when he's talking to me, not on purpose at least."

Brooklyn nodded, leading her to a table for two. "Yes, but maybe what he's hiding from you is something you shouldn't know about, something unsafe, something _dark_."

"Dark?" She made a face, taking a seat at the table. "Trust me, there's nothing 'dark' about my brother's life." She rolled her eyes. "I think he's being a baby. It's not like he was sexually assaulted when he was younger or something and he's afraid to tell me or whatever."

She suddenly heard Brooklyn laugh. She couldn't tell if he was laughing at what she said or if he just laughed to prevent silence.

"What?" She questioned, confused.

His laughter faded and all that was left was a smile, "Does an ice cream sundae sound okay? We can share."

**x x x **

It was one o'clock. The Skittles all met in the locker room. However, one member was missing.

"Where's your sister, Tala?" Mr. MaCaffery questioned. The redhead shrugged.

"I told her to meet us here at this time," Tala said. He looked over at the team. "Where's Evian, guys?"

Hilary looked as if she didn't care. Kai shrugged. Mariah and Ray mumbled an 'I don't know'.

"She'll show; she's probably just late," The redhead said. "Anyways, we're facing _The Cali Crushers_," He said, reading out from the BBA envelope he had received a few minutes ago, telling them what team they were going against. "And, as most of you know, they _are_ last year's champions, so…we're dead."

"We went against them last year," Kai said.

"And we lost." Mariah finished. "All three rounds."

"They've all got bit beasts, and they're _really_ strong." Kai added.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Tala said, "Kai and Hilary, you guys are facing off against Tyson and Max. Ray and Mariah, you two are going against Matilda and Oliver. Evian and I will face Dakota and Hiro."

Everyone nodded in understanding. "K, well we have an hour to spare, people." He looked over at his father, "And I'll go look for Evian,"

"That will be a good idea," Mr. MaCaffery encouraged. While the rest of the team started chatting away to kill time, Tala left the locker room to locate his sister. He walked down the empty hall since everyone else was in their locker rooms, and as he turned the corner, he collided head-on into a blur of blonde. Ironically enough, this blonde was Evian. She looked hurt – _physically_ hurt.

"Ow!" She furrowed her eyebrow. "Oh _god_," She looked up at the redhead with a touch of irritation, "Tala!"

"Where were you? Fuck man! You're ten minutes late! I was starting to think -"

"Tala! Oh my god!" She cut him off completely, "That _hurts_! You just flattened my boobs! Seriously! You totally squashed them! Oh my god! I feel like I just got boob reduction! I think they're two sizes smaller now!"

"K, I did _not_ need to know that, Evian," He wrinkled his nose in disgust, "I'm your _brother_; it's inappropriate to tell me about your…you-know-what's…" He eyed her intently, "Besides, it's not my fault _they_ get in the way of everything."

Her eyes widened at the last bit and she whacked him with her purse, "You dirty fag!"

He chuckled. Then he suddenly stopped. He realized there was an awkward smell. He yanked her by the arm and pulled her closer, "You smell like cigarettes…_again_."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm starting to think _you_ smoke; you like always smell cigarettes,"

"Yeah, but it only comes from you,"

"You're deranged,"

"Seriously now," He stared at her right in the eye, "You don't, right?"

"Oh my god, Tala; I'm not retarded. I would like, _never_ smoke on those cancer sticks, like seriously. That's super retarded."

He continued to stare at her, just to intimidate her, to make her feel nervous incase she _was_ lying. But her eyes, her facial expression, and her body language told him she was indeed, telling him the truth. Suddenly, Tala felt guilty. This was _Evian_, his extremely self-conscious twin sister, who would _never_ in a million years be rebellious enough to even _think_ about smoking or anything equally radical. She would never do such a thing and he was well aware of this. That being said, Tala felt guilty for accusing Evian, for pointing a suspecting finger at her.

"Chillax," He smiled and ruffled her hair; "I was only kidding. God, you take everything so seriously." He held her hand and led her towards their locker room. "So wanna tell me where you were, Ev?"

She smiled shyly, "Maybe…" She bit her bottom lip, "Brooklyn came."

"The guy from the hospital?" Tala asked for clarification. The blonde nodded.

"We shared an ice cream sundae and we were talking," She paused, "He said he had a surprise for you _and_ Kai."

"A surprise?"

Evian nodded. "But I don't know what it is; he wouldn't tell me. He sounded very eager, though. He said he wants you and Kai to see after our battle."

"_See_?"

"Yeah," Evian answered. Before Tala could ask her further questions, she turned the door handle and entered the locker room. The curiosity upset him, though. In a bad way. Brooklyn didn't know him – or Kai for that matter – and Tala didn't know Brooklyn. Why would Brooklyn have a 'surprise' for them? And what the hell was it?

When it was time for their match, The Skittles entered the stadium just as Jazzman prepared to introduce the teams. It appeared that Kai was now going to have to share his female fan-base with Tala. The team captain seemed to be getting plenty of interest from the ladies in the audience. And of course, Ray being the 'pretty' boy of the group was getting attention from both sexes. All three girls were getting massive amounts of notice from the audience. It seemed as if the Canadian team was fully comprised of ridiculously good looking beybladers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first of the thirty-sixth annual world tournament! From California, we have last year's champs, The Cali Crushers! Give it up for Tyson, his brother and team captain, Hiro, Max, Dakota, Matilda and Oliver!"

The crowd went _wild_, literally untamed. Everyone loved The Cali Crushers. The Skittles weren't getting _that_ much attention since they were a completely new and unrecognized team. Nonetheless, Kai and Mariah were getting a lot of attention since they were the only identifiable players on the team.

"And, coming from the north, all the way from Ontario, Canada, a new addition to the BBA, let's show some American love to The Skittles!" The crowd cheered, but obviously not as much as they did for the other team, "Here's Kai and Mariah from last year's team _The Knights_; Ray, Hilary, the team captain Tala, and his other half, Evian!"

Evian stared at the announcer. 'Other half'? No, she was an individual, a human being, her own self; she wasn't Tala's 'other half'. Stupid announcer. Why couldn't Tala be _her_ other half? Jesus.

Nonetheless, the battle initiated. Kai and Hilary were up first against Tyson and Max. Even though Kai and Hilary were the team's strongest pair, they lost. However, when Ray and Mariah faced off against Matilda and Oliver, they won. The Cali Crushers and The Skittles were tied at one a piece.

Up next from The Skittles were the twins. The Cali Crushers had already sent up their two bladers, Dakota and the team captain, Hiro. Apparently he was also Tyson's older brother. That was believable; they looked alike. Hiro was twenty years old, however, but still fit being in a Category C team.

"C'mon, let's go," Tala yanked his sister by the arm and pulled her off the bench. But she didn't want to go. If Kai and Hilary lost against them, what made her think she and her brother had _any_ chance of winning? Especially since she was completely inexperienced. Nonetheless, she went up only because she was literally forced to; otherwise, she would have run away.

It was her first time up here, under the spotlight, but it was scary. The crowd was a blur, and she had _no_ idea where Brooklyn was sitting. The thought of him watching this match made her nervous and gave her butterflies.

Evian looked at her opponents. Hiro was tall and slim. He was quite cute, actually. And Dakota? Dakota was…a blonde! Evian smiled, and the other blonde smiled back. Dakota seemed like a friendly character. She had tousled sand blonde hair that reached an inch or two past her shoulders; her front bangs covered her forehead but brought out her breathtaking steely grey eyes ever, with gorgeous, long, dark eyelashes.

Evian glanced over at her brother and grinned. Oh he was _totally _checking her out and in such an obvious way too. But why wouldn't he? This Dakota girl was the real deal – she had a slender and curvy figure; her breasts weren't too small or too big, and she had a nice butt, actually. She was as tall as Evian, if not, an inch or two taller. She knew that those were the _exact_ things her brother was looking at.

"What?" He asked, feeling slightly nervous.

"You know what," She snickered.

"Shut up and concentrate, Evian,"

"Dakota and Tala, sitting in a tree, K-I-S…"

"_Shut it_…"

"Bladers are you ready?" Jazzman yelled into his microphone. The four readied their blades, "3…2…1…let it rip!"

And so everyone did and the action began. Well, sort of. Evian cursed, she had an extremely weak launch, and her blade was _already_ wobbling, making it visible to the naked eye in the beydish. Damn.

On the other hand, her brother went right into action, calling out Wolborg just five seconds into the match. Come to think of it, everyone went right into action _except_ Evian. An orange glow emitted from Dakota's teal coloured beyblade. Evian had seen that phenomenon before; it was Dakota's bit beast, and _man_ was it huge. Jesus Christ. It was an alligator. Hiro also had a bit beast, an eagle.

This made the match two against one since Evian was pretty much down for the count. She didn't have a bit beast. She didn't know how to blade. The outcome for this battle was predictable.

"Orgator! Go get 'em!" Dakota ordered the oversized alligator. The bit beast did as it was told, ramming right into Tala's beyblade.

No one attacked Evian, and no one needed too; her beyblade stopped spinning by itself. Now the match was _literally_ two against one. Evian felt stupid. What the _hell_ was she doing here? Suddenly, sharing the spotlight with her brother wasn't so great anymore. Now it was clearly evident who was better. She felt…humiliated!

She knew what her father was thinking. She knew what her team was thinking. She knew what her opponents were thinking. She knew what the whole _world_ was thinking…after all, this _was_ being broadcasted all over the world. Other bey-battles were taking place around the world too, but since The Cali Crushers were the world champions and everyone's favourite team, _everyone _was watching this particular battle. Out of all the teams in the world, why did The Skittles have to face the world champs? Evian just wanted to melt into a pile of green goop and _die. _She should _never_ have agreed to join this stupid, crummy old team! She _never_ should've…

"Ev, move out of the way!"

"What?" She turned to the redhead, who was scurrying away from the beydish with his beyblade in his hands. What? He had _lost_? But her brother was the 'best'. What the hell. Nonetheless, due to slow reflexes, and an extremely dense brain, she paid the consequences of not following her brother's instructions. A wave of ice cold water plunged down on her, drenching her head to toe.

She stood there, absolutely _shocked_. She heard laughter from the _entire_ stadium. She turned to her opponents.

"Oh my god, I'm _so_ sorry, Evian!" Dakota apologized and tried to suppress her laughter. "Don't worry, it's _just_ water," She added, before following Hiro back to the benches.

Along with the laughter that was coming from the audience, Evian heard a few whistles. They were coming from men. She looked down at herself and her eyes widened. She hugged herself. She was wearing a white tank top, which of course was now entirely see-through, revealing a black bra underneath. The neckline of her tank top was starting to sag down from the weight of the water soaking it. She went red. Her dad was _right_ behind her. She didn't want her father to see her like this!

"And The Cali Crushers _owned_ today's match! What an exciting battle, ladies and gentlemen! And someone lend Evian a towel! And maybe a blow-dryer will come in handy too!"

Evian went back to the bench where her team was waiting, and laughing their little asses off. Idiots. Mr. MaCaffery couldn't help but chuckle at his daughter's misfortune.

"I _told_ you to get out of the way," Tala said, "Put this on, _whore_," He took off his shirt, and to his amusement, a bunch of girls started screaming their lungs out at his topless splendor. He looked over at the other team, only to receive a wink from Dakota. Oh, well _that_ was unexpected. But thank god Evian didn't see that, or else he'd never hear the end of it. With a quick wave, Dakota left the bench and stadium with the rest of her team leaving behind a baffled – and shirtless – Tala.

"That was certainly an interesting competition," Mr. MaCaffery eyed his daughter, "I know we lost, but that's no reason to sulk around and not enjoy the rest of our day. This was our first match, and we managed to win _one_ battle; that's something to be proud of since they _were_ the world champions."

A few members of the team nodded in agreement. "I was thinking we can go to another block in this arena and watch some of the other battles, if anyone was interested."

"Can we watch the kiddy battles? They're just so adorable!" Mariah grinned.

"Of course, anyone else?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll go." Hilary joined.

"And Kai and I are going to meet Brooklyn with Evian." Tala said, and at this, Kai raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure what was going on, but decided to keep shut and play along.

"Brooklyn?" Hilary questioned. "Who's that?"

"Yes, I'd like to know who this Brooklyn is too." Mr. MaCaffery said.

"He's a friend of Evian's. He's in the BBA tournament too. We'll be back in a few minutes."

Mr. MaCaffery nodded in understanding, "Okay, be back soon."

With consent, the three left the rest of the team to find Brooklyn.

"What surprise?" Kai questioned after hearing what this was all about. Tala shrugged.

"Don't know, he didn't tell her." The redhead said. "I think he was joking around though."

"He wasn't!" Evian objected, "Stop saying things about him! He's the sweetest thing in the world!"

Tala and Kai rolled their eyes.

"And he's _so_ hot. Oh my god. He has the most gorgeous hair ever. Seriously. Oh my god, and did you see his eyes? Aren't they the most _beautiful_ shade of blue you've ever seen? And his accent; I love his accent! He's from New Zealand! I want to go to New Zealand! That's like my favourite country! And oh my god, his last name is Reeves. Isn't that a great last name? Hmm, what about Evian Reeves? Doesn't that sound nice? Or what about Evian MaCaffery-Reeves? Or should Reeves come first? What do you think?"

"I think you should shut the fuck up," The redhead said.

"Aw, you're so mean." Evian pouted.

"So where _is_ he?" Kai finally asked, his impatience getting the best of him. "Or are you just messing with us? Because it's not funny."

Evian chose to ignore the condemnation and continue leading the two to where Brooklyn had told them to meet him: outside in the gigantic BBA parking lot.

"Hey," The blonde greeted Brooklyn, "K, I brought them."

"Great! Oh, and awesome battle! You did amazing!" Brooklyn said. He stood beside a trailer. "And now, there's something I want to show you two."

"Yeah, I kind of figured…" Tala said. "My sister said it was a 'surprise', and that you wanted me and Kai to see it."

"Not _it_, my friend, _them_," Brooklyn corrected, pulling on the door handle of the trailer, "Kai, Tala, I want you to meet my team." And with that, he grinned. Filing out of the trailer was six people; among them were an extremely recognizable brunette and an adult with purple hair who had a pair of sunglasses concealing his eyes.

Evian's jaw dropped at the sight of Marshal. He was…part of Brooklyn's team? No way! How _shocking_. She glanced over at her brother, knowing he was probably going to beat the shit out of Marshal right here, right now, regardless of the fact that there were police patrolling the area.

Nonetheless…his expression surprised her. He turned as white as paper and appeared to be temporarily paralyzed. This was imitated by Kai also, the paleness, the unmoving-ness. They both looked so _frightened_.

Kai looked like he was about to cry out a river and piss his pants. Tala looked like he was about to faint or just drop dead.

"I'm sure you all know Marshal," Brooklyn broke the awkward silence. Evian looked up at him.

"He's Tala's best friend…" The blonde said.

Brooklyn smiled, "Right. He's told us _so_ much about all of you. You all sound like marvelous people."

Evian didn't smile. In fact, she didn't know if it was acceptable to smile at a moment like this. She didn't know _how_ to react. She desperately wanted either Kai or Tala to take over and start a conversation or just say something in general.

"Let me introduce you to everyone." Brooklyn started. He placed a hand on a boy's shoulder, "This here is Ian. Don't let his height fool you," He chuckled and moved over to the next member, "This is Marshal, and you know all about him, I'm sure. Here stands Miguel, my cousin. This is Spencer and this here is Johnny, our very own firebrand."

"Hey!" The one called Johnny furrowed his eyebrows at the comment. Brooklyn only smiled and moved over to the purple haired man.

"And this is our coach, _Boris_." The coach smiled and removed his sunglasses. At that, Tala took a step back and grabbed his sister's wrist. Evian was astonished once she realized the grip around her wrist was one of _insecurity_. She didn't understand. She didn't understand why Tala was so apprehensive all of a sudden. She had never seen this before. Well she did, but that was a very long time ago. But this was new. He would _never_ look up to her for aid. He was so independent. But now it seemed he was standing _behind_ her, completely relying on her, just like he did when they were in elementary school.

The worst part was she didn't even know _what_ he was scared of. Was it because of Marshal? No, Tala couldn't _possibly_ be frightened by him! Marshal was much shorter and less physically stronger than her brother. Besides, Tala wasn't scared of _anyone_. He could take on a guy that was three times his size! And Evian had seen that before, in the school cafeteria back in tenth grade.

"So we meet again, hmm?" The coach started. He grinned at the two boys, "How have you been, young Kai? Well, I hope." He paused, "And look at you, Tala. My, you've grown so much since I've last seen you."

Evian was confused. She had never met this man before, yet, this man seemed to know her brother. This was strange; she knew _all_ the people her brother knew. She knew his friends, his teachers, some of his co-workers when he used to work at _Old Navy_ a few months back. So…how come she had never met or seen _this_ man before?

With newfound courage, Kai was able to regain his composure and speak first, "Why are you here?"

Boris laughed, "This is a BBA tournament, as I recall. I do have a team of my own, Kai. Everything is manageable, didn't I teach you?"

Kai remained silent.

Evian glanced over at her brother. His turquoise eyes were locked on the sheath that hung from Boris's belt. It looked like a _kirpan_ – the religious sword-like object for Khalsa Sikhs. It really did look like this Boris guy was carrying a weapon. Tala's grip on Evian tightened and she sensed his discomfort. He was trying to tell her he didn't like being here. And if he didn't like being here, she didn't either. She didn't like the fact that Tala felt so uneasy. It made _her_ feel uneasy because usually, he was the _last_ person on earth to be afraid. Clearly, something wasn't right.

"What do you want from me?" Kai sounded like a little child asking that question and looked panicky. He looked like he was about to break down and just dissolve or something. The answer he received from Boris was a laugh. That seemed to cause more dread among the captain and vice captain of The Skittles.

As the only person who wasn't abnormally terrified by god-knows-what, Evian felt responsible for Kai and Tala's security even though she didn't know how she could provide _any _type of safety; she was just a small blonde girl after all. Evian smiled at the team, "Its super awesome meeting you guys in person! When's your first battle?"

"Tomorrow." Marshal answered flatly.

"I see," Evian nodded absentmindedly, "Hey, I know this was short, but I kind of told my dad that we were going to get some snacks and stuff, and then I remembered that Brooklyn wanted to see my brother and Kai so I dragged them out here instead. Anyways, I think we have to go now, before my dad thinks we died or something," She laughed. She held out her free hand in front of the coach as a friendly gesture, "It was great meeting you, sir!"

"And it was my pleasure to meet you, Evian."

"Thank you!" She released Boris's hand and he did the same.

"I hope we meet again," Boris smiled.

Evian nodded, "Totally! Bye!" With that, she grabbed Kai with her free hand and hauled the two away, out of the parking lot and back into the arena. She didn't like Kai, not one bit, but it would be immoral to just leave him there to fend for himself and not help him out. He was, after all, her brother's friend. And even though she'd never say it out loud, she just didn't like it when Kai looked so vulnerable and helpless. Sure, he looked super cute when that happened, but she didn't like it when he felt so weak and defenseless. She felt sorry for him. She wanted to make it all 'better'. Evian debated, with herself, whether to question them, or just let it be for now. She figured they probably wouldn't want to talk about it right now anyway.

Back in the parking lot, Boris grinned evilly. "The look on their faces, did you see it?"

"Yes, Boris." Brooklyn answered.

"Pale as the clouds; as afraid as rats," Boris paused, "Every time they see me _and_ this team, I want them to be introduced with fear, utter fear."

"Of course, Boris." The orange-haired team captain agreed.

"And that _girl_ – Evian, is it?"

"Right, sir," Marshal answered this time, "Tala's twin sister. She joined the team on Enrique's behalf, the team member that's still in the hospital. He's in a coma."

"I see…" Boris gazed off into the horizon, "So she's the one that's been meddling with our plans."

"Somewhat."

"Smart girl, I must say." The purple haired man turned to Brooklyn, the team captain. "If that girl is a threat to any of my plans, I want her killed."

"Will do," Brooklyn concurred, "But believe me, Boris, she will not be a potential risk for any of your plans. She's my problem now. I'll handle it. She's just a stupid little girl."

"She _better_ not be a problem. Now get back in the trailer. We have work to do." Boris ordered.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**JADE FROM AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL IS A BIIIIIIITCH! Yes. I can't believe Molly Sue got voted off. Seriously. I was so pissed. **

**AND OH MY GOD! I SAW JARED PADALECKI SHIRTLESS! OMFG! I think I may have licked the TV screen or something. It was the yummiest thing in the world. I wanna see it again! **

**Mon-Chan – **Tyson and Max will play a minor role in this story (they were in this chapter! Sort of), however, Tyson will be in the sequel. Yes, there will be a sequel!

**Crying Sorceress – **I updated so late this time! It was because, oh my god, I kept rewriting chapter 18. You seriously don't want to know how many times I rewrote this until I actually liked it! And Project Runway? I've seen one episode! It was pretty good! But does it go on anymore? There was this really hot guy in that show.

**Lamanth – **Haha! The cage thing! Lol. Yes! Me and my brother, we fight like that all the time! Well not all the time, just when both of us are shit pissed at each other. Seriously, our apartment turns into a war zone! There's like sandals and various things flying around the house, hitting each other. Oh god…

**Majirdiu – **Totally! Trust me, I ran into a wall…don't ask…and it killed my boobs. Evian's boobs got killed again in this chapter, lol. I'm obsessed with boobs, eh? Lol.

**HIEI LOVERS – **This will be a Kai/Evian fic! Seriously! I knowwww, I'm very slow at getting to the point. Sorry.

**XOSAF – **Yeah, I know they sounded selfish, and trust me, lol, I wrote it like that on purpose. Things like that have happened to me, and I found myself thinking about ME first and then the victim. I guess that is kind of selfish…but…I don't know, lol. Everyone thought about themselves first, because no one wants to get into trouble and stuff, and THEN they thought about the victim, which happened to be Evian.

**And an automated round of applause goes to these fine ladies! (Although I don't know what you look like, but okay! Everyone's pretty!) **

**Sugar911 **

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**Cut Till All The Blood Seaps… **

**ChaoticPhoenix27 **

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**CrazygirlHaley5555 **

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**AnimeGirl329 (YEAH! I was like holy shit! The chapter is dedicated to me! Seriously! I was like omfg! I think I forgot to thank you in the review though. How rude of me. God. But seriously. The chapter was AWE-FUCKING-SOME!) **

**Thanks** you bitches! Lol. Sorry for the long unupdated-ness. You don't wanna know how many times I rewrote this chapter. My star sign is Virgo; therefore, I'm a perfectionist. Hm…what are your star signs, people?

I need a hair cut.

Yes I know that was random and unnecessary.

And sorry for any mistakes and such in the story; I edited it super fast (even though when I edit it fanfiction makes mistakes!) because I _really_ have to go pee. Seriously…I will piss my panties and then my mom will be like what the hell…


	19. Chapter 19

_See I'm stuck in a city, but I belong in a field. _

**Dirty Little Secret **_Nineteen _

Evian recalled last day's events, particularly the freaky encounter with Brooklyn and his team. She wanted to know why Marshal was on that team. She wanted to know how Marshal _knew _Brooklyn. Most of all, she wanted to know why her brother acted wiggity-whack. However, she decided it would be best _not_ to inquire him on the matter. He already seemed secretive and yesterday he made it _pretty_ obvious that he was hiding something along with her parents, and even if she threatened to slit his throat, he wouldn't say a word.

But just because she 'respected' his privacy didn't mean she didn't want to know. She was very curious and she wanted to know _exactly_ what was going on in his life. If he knew every little thing about her, wasn't it only fair if she knew every little thing about him?

Totally!

Evian rolled out of bed once she heard the water stop running from the bathroom, indicating Mariah was done and it was finally her turn to use the washroom and prepare for the new day even though she didn't want to. What she really wanted to do was sleep in until two in the afternoon and have her mom make her blueberry pancakes and then go shopping with Miriam and Evelyn.

That wasn't going to happen any time soon.

After blow-drying her hair, she beamed over all her luggage hoping she wouldn't take forever to find the perfect attire for the day. It was a gorgeous sunny day and she felt like dressing up.

Her contemplation on clothing was interrupted by a loud knock on the hotel door.

"I'll get it!" Mariah announced, strolling off towards the door. Hilary and Evian both glanced over their shoulders to see who it was, curiosity getting the best of them. It was the guys.

"Aren't you guys done already? We're going to miss breakfast!" Tala complained. "Hurry up! C'mon! No one gives a shit about your eye liner or concealer or your earrings or what colour panties you're wearing," He paused, "Well actually…"

"Pervert." Mariah rolled her eyes. She stepped aside, letting them inside. "We're almost ready."

"Yeah," Hilary added, "We're just waiting for _her_." She eyed Evian.

"I'm almost done!" The blonde whined. "I just need like five more minutes. Twenty minutes max, I swear."

"No! It's already 9:01. I'm giving you five _seconds_," The redhead said. "Starting _now_." He acted as if nothing happened yesterday, as if things were completely normal, and that he never met Brooklyn or his team or even Marshal for that matter. Kai acted the same way: casual, relaxed, and typical. Evian decided to act like them too, it was only fair.

"No total way, you moron!" Evian protested, "Picking clothes in five seconds is like totally against the rules of feminism!" For some reason, the others found that to be a laughing-matter. The fact that she couldn't pick out something to wear in five seconds was humorous to them. She didn't understand why. Unlike Hilary, who wore nothing but tomboyish attire, and Mariah, who had a good sense of style but never dressed in anything other than jeans and a cute t-shirt, Evian liked to look nice and dress according to her mood and the weather and liked to alternate between the types of clothing and the colours.

The guys, however, didn't seem to have this problem. They looked good in _anything_. They could roll out of bed, wear clothes that hadn't been washed in ages, and still managed to look hot. Hell, they could roll around in dirt, wear a paper bag, and look good too.

Out of the three guys, it was evident Kai had the best sense of fashion. Everything he wore was always _different_ and it was impossible to judge him by the clothes he wore. Sometimes he was dressy, sometimes he was sporty, sometimes it was both, sometimes it was all about colour coordination…but whatever it was, it was always a hit, and along with his looks it always got the girls going, young and old.

Ray wasn't too bad himself, although his wardrobe only consisted of black and blue jeans and oversized t-shirts. It was getting a bit old but he didn't necessarily look bad.

And when it came to Tala, Evian didn't know how to judge him because he knew _shit_ about fashion, so she ended up picking out all his clothes and she made _sure_ they were good – and expensive – clothes that matched him. He still didn't know that red t-shirts made him look like a tomato. Literally. What _would_ he do without his sister to guide him in the fashion sector? But it was gosh-darn fun to pick out clothes for him; it was like she was the designer and he was the model.

"Three seconds left and then we're all going to go and leave you here alone and demons will come and get you. Oh, and that guy from _House_ _of Wax_. Remember him? He's waiting in the bathroom for you and once we leave…"

"Okay! Okay!" The blonde quickly selected the two articles of clothing that sat above all the other clothes. This consisted of a denim mini skirt and a white key-hole cami. Clutching onto her garments, she looked a bit hesitant, "I'm not changing in the washroom…"

"God Evian! I was only kidding! It was a movie! It doesn't exist!"

"That's what _you_ think. I'm going to change behind the curtains…no peeking!" And with that, she really did hide herself behind the long teal coloured drapes. After complaining about how dirty the curtains were, and accusing almost everyone of peeking at her while she was changing, she was finally ready and good to go, completely oblivious of the fact that there _was_ someone from the team that snuck a few quick glances at her while she was changing.

"Good morning, everybody," Mr. MaCaffery greeted the team with a smile as he did almost every morning, unless he was running late. He, along with everyone else, took a seat at the rectangular table for breakfast. "I have some good news and some bad news."

"Start with the bad news first," Evian was the first to react.

Immediately, and surprisingly enough, Tala agreed, nodding, "Yeah, that way we'll feel better when we hear the good news."

"Psychology; really is a wonderful thing," Mr. MaCaffery commented, "Okay, the bad news then," He pulled out a newspaper. It was slightly smaller than the standard city newspapers. "This is the _BBA Daily_. It's published everyday and it is written in over 100 languages so that everyone around the world can read it and keep up-to-date on what's going on."

Kai and Mariah sighed; it seemed like they already knew about the BBA Daily deal. And they didn't seem to like it.

"Why not just watch the _BBA News_ instead?" Evian's question sounded more like a statement.

"You're right, the BBA News is probably more efficient but some people prefer to read, Evian." Mr. MaCaffery answered. "Anyways…" He held up the newspaper. Everyone's eyes widened at the front page of the newspaper. "Yes we made front page. No we're not famous."

"_Cali Crushers crush The Skittles like candy_," Hilary read the headline of the article. The picture featured with the piece of writing was one of the victorious team and one of the losing team, side-by-side. It really did make The Skittles look bad, especially the heading.

"Now, let's not get too worked up about what the BBA has to say about us," Mr. MaCaffery tried to enlighten the breakfast mood just like it was a few seconds ago. He regretted showing the team the newspaper, but they would find out eventually anyway; after all, The Skittles were being trashed in the BBA News as well.

Despite Mr. MaCaffery's suggestion, Ray continued reading the article, "Yesterday's upshot of the Arizona match in the United States was not surprising for many. Once again the Cali Crushers have proved that they waste no time in the dish by owning yesterday's match against one of Canada's rookie teams, The Skittles, a Category C team made of six Torontonian teens with dashing good looks, but no skill whatsoever when it comes to the actual sport itself…" The raven-haired teen trailed off. The rest of the team finished the article, reading it silently, taking in every insult, every offense that was thrown at them. After that, there was a long moment of silence.

Evian looked around the table unnoticeably. Out of all the members of The Skittles, Evian figured her brother probably felt the worst after reading the article – why? Because. He was the team captain and clearly, he was 'in charge' of the team. He was the one who made up the tag teams, he was the one who decided who would go against who when it came to the actual competition, he was the 'decision-maker'.

Plus, Tala took this tournament a _little_ too seriously.

Or maybe he was perfect; maybe Evian was the one who _wasn't_ taking it as seriously as she was supposed to. It was one or the other. She knew her brother was a serious person when it came to serious things like this, like school, and like other 'serious' things. She knew that she _wasn't_ serious when it came to this tournament or school or anything in life, in fact. Maybe it was because Tala had self-motivation and she did not.

Or maybe it was simply because he was smart and probably had a really high IQ and she was really stupid and had blonde hair and god knew who she inherited that from.

Anyway, the point was, seeing her brother so emotionally…_fragile_…was kind of odd. He just sat there, slouched in his seat, with his arms crossed, looking a bit gloomy. Usually he didn't take crap from people; he fought back. This time, he looked defeated. It was probably because this time, possibly for once in his life, he didn't have support; he didn't have back-up because he _did_ lose that match yesterday and he knew it. Everyone knew it.

And _that_ was a good thing. It made Evian feel better. Seeing his downfall made her automatically feel ten times better than him. Sure, the whole concept of how thinking like this was evil was floating around in her head – somewhere – but everyone needed to feel better by using someone's breakdown once in a while…even if it mean that 'someone' was your brother, or your sister, your friends, even your own parents, or someone equally close.

It made her feel better because the fact that Tala was an 'idiot' was _so_ evident now, especially in front of Mr. MaCaffery, their dad, a person who Evian wanted to impress literally from the moment her umbilical cord had been cut off. Of course two minutes later, Tala had to pop out, ruining _everything_ she had planned out while in her mother's womb…well not really…but it was close enough.

The point was he was getting in the way of everything! He was getting in the way of her life! And she hated him! And at the same time she loved him, and this is where things got confusing and off tangent. She _didn't_ know if she truly loved her brother or if she truly hated him. If she did hate him, what caused this hatred? Jealousy? Envy? The attention factor and which twin got most of it? She didn't know. And if she loved her brother, _why_ would she think this way? Why was she suddenly happy when he was unhappy?

"Okay," Mr. MaCaffery interrupted her train of thoughts, swiping the newspaper from Ray's grip, "That's enough brooding and sulking and wasting five minutes of breakfast time. There's only one way to reverse this, and you know it: more training. Practice makes perfect, you know that. Starting today, we're going to train _extra_ hard. This time I mean it. I think I've been going too easy on you guys." He paused and looked at the team. "Everyone's going to give it their all this time, got it?" The team nodded, most of them at least. "Enough of that; let's move on to the good news."

The team looked relieved by that, "We're still in the BBA tournament; however, we're only two matches away from being eliminated. You all know the rules, three losses and you're out of the tournament."

The team nodded slightly. But this was fresh news to Evian though as she was not familiar with the BBA rules and regulations.

"But we're still here and hopefully, we'll go a little further than just three matches," Mr. MaCaffery said, "I have faith in this team. I know this team can go far. And we have advantages. All of you – except one – have bit beasts. Most of you have been blading for a _very_ long time. Tala and Kai have been doing so since they were only three and four. I'm sure most of you started at a very young age as well." He paused, "Anyway, after dinner tonight we are leaving for New York for our second match. Once there, you'll have roughly three days to train before the competition. Win or lose, we leave for Las Vegas after that."

The team lightened up at the mention of Las Vegas. Las Vegas was the _core_ of fun! It was _the_ place for parties, casinos – even though they were four years underage – night clubs, and a truckload of super entertainment! "If we lose in New York _and_ Las Vegas, then we have to pack our bags and head home. But losing New York's match is risky; that means you only have _one_ more chance for the tournament, and the tournament only gets harder and harder because only the strong teams move up. If you lose New York's match, there will be _no_ room for mistakes. This is why it is very essential to train and make sure we win that match. And in order to win, I'm going to stop going so easy on this team. Like I said, we're going to train extra hard. Everyone is going to help everyone out, especially Tala and Kai. As captain and vice-captain you should _constantly_ look out for your teammate's flaws."

Both Kai and Tala nodded simultaneously.

"And Evian? You need a _lot_ of practice. You're brother's going to help you out, isn't that right Tala?"

_Damn straight! _"Yeah," He answered.

"Good. Now let's enjoy breakfast, then we'll train, and then I'll let you all do whatever you want since it's your last day in Arizona, and then we're off to New York."

**x x x **

Ray exhaled out loudly once he put the last pair of jeans into the luggage, "Okay Kai," He zipped up the bag, "All your things are packed."

"Thanks man," The slate-haired teen grinned looking down at the two teens from his bed. Still inexperienced in the 'cleaning' department, he got Tala and Ray to do all his packing and such for him. "I totally owe you guys."

"Yeah," The redhead lazily sprawled on the floor, "You're paying for my next cell phone bill."

"And for the next two months," Ray smirked mischievously, "You're giving me a sponge bath."

The room fell silent as the redhead and the blunette looked at Ray with a shudder. "K, I'll pretend I _didn't_ hear that," Tala wrinkled up his nose in disgust. And the fact that he was a visual person – a _very_ visual person – didn't help either. It only made things worse.

Kai retreated from the bed, "Yeah, and excuse _me_ while I go barf out half my lunch in the toilet," He pointed towards the bathroom.

Before other remarks could take place, there was a loud, 'open-the-door-right-now!' kind of knock on their hotel door. Curious, Kai made his way towards the door. He unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"What do you want, _Blondie_?" He loomed over the blonde. She looked slightly intimidated by his presence. He liked that; he liked it when she was scared. It was fun to scare her. It was fun to mess around with her.

"Is Tala here?" She asked.

"No."

"Where is he? Oh my god, there's like two hours before we leave for the airport! He needs to help me pack all my clothes!"

The slate-haired teen crossed his arms, "Too bad. Learn to pack your own stuff. You're seventeen. You don't need Tala to look after you all the time,"

Tala appeared by the doorway, "Look who's talking," He eyed Kai, "_Hypocrite_."

"He lied! He said you weren't in here! He's a liar!" Evian complained about Kai's dishonesty. "Tala! He's gay!"

"_You're_ gay." Kai countered.

"You're gayer, ha."

"You're gay times infinity. You can't beat that."

"Yes I can. You're gay times infinity _squared_." She folded her arms over her chest. Kai and Tala exchanged glances and then burst into a fit of laughter, startling Evian.

"You…you can't square infinity!" Kai managed to say through his amusement, "That's like saying pigeons can have sex with giraffes!" The two boys laughed even harder.

Evian looked at Kai disgustedly, "Okay, that was super disturbing." Evian impatiently waited until the two boys calmed down. "_Finally_," She rolled her eyes, "It wasn't even that funny. Anyways," She got right down to business, "I seriously need your help." She looked at her brother.

"No, absolutely _not_; I already wasted one hour of my life helping Kai pack all his things."

"That's not fair! You have to help me too! Besides, I'm your _sister_. And you owe me too."

"For what?"

"For helping you with your chemistry assignment, remember? I did the title page."

"That was like two months ago, forget it!"

"_You_ are going to help me," She demanded.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are and I'm going to make you." She dragged him by the arm to the girls' room. For some reason, Kai followed. Maybe he was seeking entertainment. Tala's reasoning plus Evian's irrationality always equaled amusement. Nonetheless, once Kai and Tala entered the girls' room, they gasped. Clothes were dispersed _everywhere_. Literally.

There were huge piles of clothing on all three beds, all of which belonged to Evian. Some articles of clothing were sitting on the window sill. Most of them were scattered across the floor. Because of all the clothes, Kai _actually_ felt claustrophobic being in here. The room felt airless.

"I _know _what you're thinking," Evian broke the silence, "This is _so _not sexy. Mariah and Hilary thought the room was getting really stuffy so they left; they're down at the pool. I've been trying to clean up for like five hours."

"And I thought _Kai_ was bad…" Tala commented.

"Oh c'mon, this isn't _that_ bad. I'm sure Kai was worse." Evian said.

"I was _not_." Kai protested. He wasn't. Really.

"Anyway, let's start with the tank tops," Evian said, "Or maybe if Kai helps too we can divide the work. Tala, you collect all the tank tops, I'll get all my jeans, and if Kai wants to be a moral person and help out, he'll gather all the skirts in one pile."

Tala grabbed Kai's arm, "Don't even _think_ about leaving. If I suffer, I'm taking you down with me, you son-of-a-bitch."

"I'm claustrophobic." The vice-captain tried to use his phobia as a defense.

"Well I'm Evian's-clothes-o-phobic," Tala said.

Evian smiled, "Okay! Let's get started then. Oh, and whatever you do, don't touch my bras."

"_Ew…_" The redhead cringed.

"What about these?" Kai held up a pair of frilly green oversized underwear, holding it with just two fingers.

Tala's eyes widened, "Dude, that's _massive_."

"Oh my god, that is _so _not mine." Evian denied potential accusation. Nonetheless, she was telling the truth. "It was here since we checked into the hotel. Mariah found it under her bed sheets," Evian said, looking at Kai, "So…I don't think you want to touch that, you know, for hygienic purposes." She made a face, "You don't know where it's been." She whispered in a matter-of-factly sort of way.

Horrendously appalled and sickened, Kai tossed the enormous underwear in a random direction, hoping to never stumble upon a situation like that ever again. Soon enough, everyone got to work, and ironically, Kai helped out too.

**x x x **

Never-fading fireworks, that's what they looked like. Evian looked through the glass panel of the airplane, admiring all the lights beneath them, and at night, when all the lights were switched on, it really was a spectacular view. She looked over her shoulder, giving her brother a momentary look. Too bad he was missing out; he was asleep. Apparently all the clothes-folding tired him out. Once again, she looked out the window. It really was stunning.

She had been on a plane only once before this trip, and even then, she was traveling in daylight. It wasn't very fun, in fact, it was tedious. But _this_ was beautiful. Looking at earth from a bird's eye view during nightfall was amazing. Peering out the window, she vaguely smiled. Of course, something just _had_ to get in the way of her enjoyment.

"Seriously," The voice sounded humorless, "I'm going to throw up. I need to go to the washroom."

"This is what you would call a 'barf-bag',"

"I am _not_ chucking in a paper bag, Hilary. I feel really sick. I just want to get off this plane."

Sitting in the front of Evian, occupying the two window seats, were Kai and Hilary. Sitting behind her were Ray and Mariah. And sitting across from her was her father. She felt surrounded. Nonetheless, her father seemed to be asleep with a pair of headphones on his ears. Ray and Mariah didn't make a sound, indicating they were either sleeping, or watching _Titanic_, the movie that was being played on the airplane. Evian frowned; why did they have to play such a stupid movie? Why not something like _Spiderman_ or _The Grudge_ or something equally thrilling? The only people that were truly watching the movie were middle-aged women.

Everyone else on the plane seemed to be doing other things.

Kai was one of those people. It looked like his phobia got the best of him. He was already freaking out thirty minutes ago, before they were _on_ the plane. He never wanted to get on this plane, and he made it _pretty_ clear in the departure gates. Hilary, Tala, and Mr. MaCaffery had to literally _drag_ him in.

Evian grinned; this was her chance! She could scare Kai and make it _ten_ times worse for him! Sure it was a bit evil but she just wanted to have some fun. She put her feet up on her seat, stood up on her knees and leaned over and peered at the couple. Annoyed, Kai leaned back in his seat and his tense auburn eyes moved upward, meeting with her humorous olive green ones, which were accented with steely coloured mascara.

"Get lost, Blondie," He warned, evidently not in the mood for any type of rough and tumble.

"Did you know," She started, beaming, "This airplane can be completely off-course if the core of the earth stopped spinning because then our electromagnetic field would deteriorate? Geophysicists have already found instability in the EM-field, and a few satellites stopped working and fell from the sky. There's actually a possibility of us crash-landing and _dieing_." Evian could literally see his colour transition as he went from pale to paler. Surely she scared him. Before she could continue terrifying the shit out of the vice-captain, she was yanked back into her seat. Evidently, Tala was awake all along and he was only pretending to get some sleep.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" He questioned. "Quit giving him a hard time."

"I'm only being logical just like you want me to be,"

"Logic doesn't suit you. Go back to being blonde."

"You know, I was actually thinking of dying my hair," She started, "I was thinking maybe red. Then people wouldn't think we were unrelated." She paused, "Or!" Her sudden outburst startled Tala, "Maybe you should dye your hair blonde! Because you know, you have blue eyes; it would make a lot of sense!" She took a few strands of her hair and plastered against her brother's forehead. "You need a darker shade of blonde, not strawberry blonde though. Maybe dirty blonde, but I hate dirty blonde, it's so gross. Oh and don't _ever_ think about platinum blonde, that's like super _ew_."

"You're such a hater," He shook his head.

"And never bleach your hair! Evelyn did it once, because she wanted to get blonde highlights, and oh my god, she had _so_ many split ends after that. It was _really_ bad. Miriam and I made her get a hair cut and layered it out and got rid of all the split ends. Oh my god, I totally thought I saw a split end in _my_ hair one time, and I almost like commit suicide, but then I got too scared to kill myself. Seriously, I don't get how some people commit suicide." She made a face.

"Some people don't like their life, Evian."

"Yeah, well obviously those 'some people' are seriously disturbed and super retarded."

"K, I agree – but only to a certain extent, I mean, if those 'people' don't appreciate the life they're living, then why _not_ jump off a cliff and die or just cut themselves until they bleed to death and just get life over with?"

"Because that's _gross_," She made a face, "Duh…"

Initially, Tala didn't expect a rational answer from Evian. He never did. He didn't have to. She wasn't rational, and this proved it. "Well what do you expect someone to do when they're depressed? Go on drugs and be happy?"

"I expect what the whole world expects,"

"And that is…?"

"And that is," She started; "to suck it up and deal with it. Depressed people are poor individuals seeking attention. Seriously, they don't understand the fact that every living, breathing thing on this planet has issues; I have problems, maybe you have some problems, mom and dad might have some issues, even cats and dogs and trees and fruit flies have problems. These 'attention seekers' need to learn that just because they're whining and crying about whatever, the rest of the world is not going to stop," She paused to ensure she still had her brother's undivided attention, "The rest of the world is not going to stop to see what's wrong because the world is concerned about other things and the world is going to move on with or without these retards bawling their eyes out over something so insignificant, its ridiculous. _They_ don't know that _we_ don't care."

He had listened to every single word, every one word she had spoken. This was deep. He was wordless and literally thunderstruck. Never, throughout seventeen years of living with her, did Tala ever think that Evian had the mental capacity and general ability to reflect like that, more than ever on such a sensitive issue. For once her way of thinking made sense – it was logical.

And brutally accurate.

But he wanted to push her further and see what other kind of rationality she possessed and how far she could actually go with her perception. This was new. This was interesting. It was time for him to talk.

"So you're saying if someone came up to you and was really miserable and they had like cuts on their wrists and stuff because they're a cutter, you wouldn't care?" He questioned.

"No," She answered flatly.

"Why not?"

"Because they're stupid. Why would someone want to cut their self? I don't get it, that's so retarded and no one cares. _I_ wouldn't care."

"Really…" He tried to stump her. Where did this rationality – this _hidden_ reasonableness he never knew about – end? "What if you found out that I was a depressive and that I inflicted self harm?"

"You wouldn't do that because you're not stupid."

"Yeah, but what if I did? You wouldn't care, right?"

"You'd never do that, but if you did," The blonde exhaled out loudly, "I would kick your ass."

Well that was an unexpected answer. It most certainly surprised him. He expected her to stutter, to _break_.

"Why would you do that?" He asked.

"Because," She crossed her arms and looked at him like he was an idiot and his pointless questions were…pointless, "I'm older."

**x x x **

Unlike their first night in Phoenix, Arizona, the team settled into their temporary housing, a New York Hotel, without any kind of partying and boozing. The team checked into the hotel at around two in the morning and they were deadbeat to do anything of the sort. Besides, Kai wasn't feeling that great either; after Evian's unnecessary statement about the earth's electromagnetic field, his claustrophobia got the best of him. After experiencing a short panic attack on the airplane and throwing up after the flight, he really wasn't in the mood for anything.

"_Please_ don't tell me we have to wake up early tomorrow – or this morning since it's already past two AM," Kai said, taking off his shirt and tossing it on the floor before crawling into bed. "If we wake up at eight, that's only six hours of sleep and I swear the god I'll just…" He trailed off yawning, literally passing out in bed.

"The team _is_ pretty tired," Ray added.

"I know for sure there is _no_ way Ev's waking up at eight. She needs her 'beauty' sleep," Tala rolled his eyes. "And Kai doesn't function well when he's still tired, and he's one of the _strongest_ members we've got on this shitty team."

"We're not _that _bad, Tala, I mean…c'mon. This is going to sound really cliché, but have some faith. You're a really good blader, and you know that; you and Kai are probably the team's strongest links. And the girls are doing a lot better than I thought they would."

Tala eyed Ray strangely, "The _girls_?"

"Fine, the girls minus Evian."

"There we go,"

"Your sister needs a lot of practice, but you _have_ to admit, she's leeching onto the sport a lot faster than most beginners. She's a fast learner; you have to give her credit for that. Do you know how long it took _me_ to learn how to launch a blade?"

He sighed disappointedly, "Evian's got all the potential in the world. I'll bet she has more potential than this team combined. And I know that if she took up beyblading when she was young too, then _she'd_ be the team's strongest player."

"If she's as brilliant as you make her sound, then what's holding her back?"

"Herself." The redhead answered, staring at the ceiling. He looked back at Ray, and once he noticed the confused expression on the raven-haired teen's face, he decided to elaborate, "She's not stupid. If she wanted to, she could make the entire team look stupid. Like I said, the only thing holding her back is herself. She has no self-motivation, absolutely _none_."

"None?"

"Well…" Tala reconsidered, "Not exactly _none_. Like, she'll do something if she knows she has to," He paused, "Actually, not necessarily _has_ to, but if she wants to. She's extremely competitive and if she knows she's got an opponent, then she'll literally kick their ass."

"What about beyblading then? This is all about competition. She isn't doing anything."

"That's because she wants _a_ competitor. It has to be someone specific. It can't just be a _team_. And it could be anyone. You never know, she might pick _you_ as her opponent, if she thinks you're challenging enough. She could actually choose someone from _this_ team as her competitor. I know it's weird, but that's just how she is. She likes competition. And trust me, she _hates_ losing." The redhead was getting ready to turn off the lights and get some sleep.

"Wait," Ray said, "You said that if she knows she has an opponent, she'll 'kick their ass', right? She's competitive, so she'll do whatever it takes to _win_."

"Yeah,"

"Why didn't you say anything before, you jackass?" Ray chuckled. "I have an idea."

**x x x **

It was three in the afternoon. By now, everyone was up and lively…except one. Tala rolled his eyes at the sleeping form on the bed. If he let her sleep in any longer, she would wake up three days later. Sighing, the redhead made his way over to the occupied single bed. He beamed over the blonde.

He wasn't too surprised to see her sprawled on the bed with her feet resting off the bed, in midair. Her hair was plastered all over her face and she looked as if she could sleep forever. Nonetheless, what did surprise him was the petite smile that graced her lips. Who the hell smiled in their sleep?

"Hey, time to get up, seriously," He gave her a light shove. "C'mon, dad's getting pissed."

She turned the other way, embracing her hug pillow.

"Hey!" He tugged her by the arm, "Don't ignore me, Evian! And we're going to start training soon. Get up. You had more than twelve hours of sleep. C'mon, you're the only one still in bed."

She lazily sat up in bed and yawned. "I had a dream…"

"If it involves sex, tampons, or anything of the like, please keep it to yourself."

She tried to kick the redhead, but failed, "Moron," She mumbled. She yawned once again and rubbed her eyes leisurely and grinned as she did, "I had a dream that I was on _America's Next Top Model_ and I won."

"Good for you. Now wake up. Get off bed. You missed breakfast and lunch, so I don't know what you're going to have now, but whatever floats your boat."

"Speaking of floating boats," She started, "What time is it?"

He looked at her strangely, "How do boats have _anything_ to do with the time? You know what, don't answer that question; forget I even asked. It's 3:05. Are you planning to get _off_ the bed like normal people or just sit there like a hobo?"

By 3:30, Evian made her way downstairs to the hotel's eatery. The only other person there was her brother. Apparently the rest of the team was warming up for training.

"Eat fast," Tala ordered, "Training starts soon, and starting today, you're going to train _extra_ hard."

"Why?"

"Because you suck and you need to get better at beyblading. I wanna win. I didn't enter this tournament to lose. And even if I don't win, I at least want to go further than three matches. And _this_ is for your 'drooling purposes'," He handed her the day's copy of BBA Daily. She gasped upon seeing the front page.

"It's Brooklyn!" She grinned, snatching the document from the redhead. "Oh my god! Look! It's him! He's so hot! Look at his smile! Look! Look at him!" On the face of the BBA Daily was a full-length photo of the nineteen year old New Zealand beyblader. One hand was raised as if he was waving to someone, most likely his fans.

"I get the point! Read the article! That's why I gave it to you!"

"You said you gave it to me for my drooling purposes."

"You're done drooling over him, now read the article." Obeying, she quickly skimmed through the article, and her eyes widened more and more as she did.

"They won yesterday's match!" She said excitedly, "Their team name is kinda cheesy though; _The Demolition Boys_. Oh god. Seriously, we have like the best team name in the entire BBA tournament."

"Yeah…"

"So why did you act all retarded and stuff when you met his team?"

"I did _not_."

"Yeah you did; you were all like creeped out or something, honestly."

"You need glasses. Eat, woman! We have training! Jeez!"

By four, Evian was ready for training with the rest of the team. Nonetheless, her brother kept his word; he definitely didn't go easy on her anymore just because she was a beginner.

"Do it again; pick up your blade, launch, and do the move I just showed you," The redhead said.

Sighing, Evian picked up the transparent beyblade and positioned it on the launcher once again. She pulled the pink ripcord with effort this time. The colourless beyblade landed on the dish. To her, the launch was flawless.

Some people begged to differ though.

"That's all you've got?" The mockery-like tone came from behind her. The vice captain of the team stood just a feet behind her. His arms were crossed and he gave her a wretched look. The blonde turned around, trying to avoid the annoying and teasing vice captain.

"Tala, tell him to leave me alone." Evian said, ready to launch her beyblade once again and pray to god training would be over soon. Unfortunately, there was another hour left.

"Just ignore him, Evian. Focus on your beyblade." The redhead said.

Exhaling out loudly, Evian launched her beyblade into the dish for the millionth time. "Okay, that's not bad, Evian. Try again."

"Are you _joking_?" Kai cut in once again, "That was the most pathetic launch I've _ever_ seen."

Furious, Evian turned around and faced the vice-captain, "Yeah, well why don't you take my pathetic launch, and shove it up your big, hairy -"

"Okay, Evian, _easy_. C'mon, don't pay attention to him. Do what you have to do." The redhead forced his sister to turn around and focus on beyblading.

"That was _not_ a pathetic launch. He's pathetic. He even looks pathetic. What a pathetic idiot. He can't even come up with a better word than 'pathetic'. What a moron."

"You're wasting time, Evian." Tala said. "Keep going, you're doing fine."

"Then tell _him_ to get lost!" She exclaimed.

"Why? Does Blondie have a problem with me?" The slate-haired teen chuckled insultingly.

"Yeah," She looked at him once again, losing concentration on what she was doing and becoming distracted, "Yeah, I have a problem with your ugly face and the icky blue colour of your hair." She verbalized, "And _those_ are so not in-style anymore." She rolled her eyes, referring to his chocolate-coloured _Vans_ skater shoes, "It's all about _Converse_ now. Everybody living in the 21st century knows that." Of course, that wasn't true. Those shoes, that company, and even the colour, were totally in right now. But she had to say something. She wanted to make him feel lame. Alas, that didn't work. Instead, he smirked and walked off, back to Hilary. Mr. MaCaffery was too busy dealing with Mariah and Ray to notice what had just happened. Evian turned to her brother somewhat angrily, "You could've said something to him."

"_No_, I couldn't have. You need to learn how to ignore people. You can't just fire-up like that. I can't help you out all the time, Evian; you have to learn how to solve your own problems."

She was in a tight position now. Initially, after her conflict with Kai, she wanted to keep beyblading and show his French ass – and possibly the rest of the world – that she was not 'pathetic' and that she was fully capable of beyblading just like the rest of the team. But now, after her brother's statement, she wanted to leave the training room just to piss him off for pissing _her _off.

She couldn't believe he actually had the guts – and indecency – to say something like that. Did he forget everything that happened years ago? When he was victimized by countless _bullies_?

That's right! Tala 'The-Great' went through the dreadful experience when he was in elementary school. The bullying got so bad that he actually had to switch schools in fourth grade. He was constantly harassed by the other students because of his height. No, not because he was tall, but because he was _short_; shorter than Evian even. Plus, his allergy to bees was another thing. Some students would go as far as to kill a bee, and then chase him around the playground and scare him with it.

Those were the good old days – sort of – when Evian was taller, and when she beat the students that picked on her brother during lunch and recess in elementary school into a pulp. Back then, she even 'owned' half the playground at school. But just because she was a girl and she had the strength to kick a boy's butt didn't mean she was a bully herself. In actual fact, she was a very well-mannered girl. She didn't pick on anyone, and no one really had the guts to pick on her either.

But when circumstances were regarding Tala, things were different. She'd never touch another kid unless the kid touched Tala. She didn't know why, but that was the only time she could actually tear someone apart. She just felt so _angry_ when someone actually had the moral fiber to pick on her brother. He was hers and the only person in the entire universe that was allowed to pick on him was her. It was her job to do so. She didn't like it when other people tried to pilfer her occupation.

But nothing lasts forever. The glory had to end. And it did when adolescence and puberty came along. Without warning, everything changed. _Everything._

Now here he was, standing at a grand height of five feet and eleven inches, getting chased around by girls consistently, getting outstanding grades in school, getting the better share of their parents' love, getting _this_, getting _that_, getting his hands on basically anything he desired.

She was happy that her brother was no longer a victim, but she expected him to have at least _some_ respect for her. She didn't care how little respect he had for her as long as he had some. To this day, she believed her brother had the civility to grant her a fraction of admiration.

But today proved her wrong.

Today proved that Tala didn't care about the permanent grass stain she got on her favourite coral pink skirt in second grade in the process of shoving her foot into Matthew's butt for pushing Tala into a puddle of mud and making him cry on his birthday.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**I updated! I figured I probably should since everyone waited for chapter 18 for a very long time. I'm very impatient and I hate waiting so I figured you guys feel the same way. **

**Crying Sorceress – **Are you bloody serious (no I'm not British)? You're a Virgo too! Omfg! You're like the ONLY other Virgo I know! This explains why we see eye-to-eye on everything! Great minds – like Virgos – think alike! I'm so glad you're a Virgo! Yes! And no, lol, that's not exactly the dirty little secret. I put like everything in that chapter to prevent a 600 chaptered story. Haha. I'm so slow at getting to the point, so I'm trying to speed up a little.

**Crazy Rei luva – **YOU LIKE JARED TOO? YESSSNESS! He's sooo hot! I saw supernatural today, and this ugly vampire guy was choking him. I felt so bad. Lol. Then his dad came to the rescue of course. I love Jared; he's so cute. And about Evian's character; she IS a lot like me, and THAT'S the thing. A lot of authors, to my knowledge, write stories based on something they WANT to be, not someone they are. Evian is me. Sort of. I'm not a blonde though, in fact, I'm not even white, lol. I'm Indian. Betcha didn't see that one coming did you? Lol. But yeah, I love shopping, and I'm all into lip gloss and cell phones and hot guys and stuff, and oh yeah, my calculus mark isn't that pretty.

**Maji – **HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY! Omfg! That's so awesome!

**NightPredator – **He almost touched your boobs? THAT MEANS HE LIKES YOU! My mom's a Scorpio, and so are my best friends. Seriously, I'm surrounded by Scorpios!

**LyttleChickie – **IT'S MRS. PADALECKI! I have his babies. Or at least I'm planning to get them…sometime in the future.

**Cut Till All The Blood Seaps… - **The hand holding thing? Haha. I was watching Video On Trial on MuchMusic yesterday, and they were making fun of the Hilary Duff video with her sister, and there was this one part where they were holding hands, and the people were like 'INCEST!' and I thought about my story, and I was like woopsie…but me and my brother hug and stuff, so?

**Libretto – **Omfg, I love your penname. And thanks for putting me on your C2! I love those things! Lol.

**Bleh – **Yes I know! I really like Joannie. She's so cute.

**Feeding Ground – **You're the second Virgo (after Crying Sorceress) I've met! Omfg! This is so fucking cool! And that manga book you wanna do for your English class totally says you're a Virgo, why? Because we like to go overboard and be creative!

**And thank you to… **

****

**Bloodstainedmoon **

**Lamanth **

**Sugar911 **

**Kesata harika 09 **

**AG329 **

**Mon-chan **

**Simply Sakura **

**EAMR **

**CrazygirlHaley5555 **

**Kasanara **

**The perfect oasis **

**HeartlessDevil **

**DemonicStormFox **

**Wreckless Spirit **

**_And this one person who didn't have a name…so I couldn't mention you in the list of names, lol. Sorry. _**

****

**GUESS WHAT!** Omfg, I think I really have to share this with you guys. I was walking down Queen Street (Toronto) the other day looking for a formal (some people, I think Americans, call it prom) dress, and ALL of a sudden, I see this guy with a really weird hair-do, and I was like, okay, and he was Indian, right, so anyway, I was walking with my mom, and that guy comes closer, like 2 centimeters away from me, and I was like WTF! GUESS WHO IT WAS! OMFG! IT WAS IAN FROM BILLY TALENT! I WAS LIKE HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! Seriously! IT WAS HIM! And I stopped in the middle of the street, and I just had my mouth hanging open and people thought I was mentally retarded or something. I had my camera with me and I didn't take a picture. I did the stupidest thing. I didn't even run after them. I was so shocked; I had a quick heart attack. My dad TOLD me to run after them and I didn't. How fucked is that? Then I got in the car and cried. Lol. I'm so strange. Awwww. They actually walked on the same street as me! Omfg! It was SOOO COOLLLL! And weird!

End of rant.


	20. Chapter 20

_Sleeping in the church, riding in the dirt, put a banner over my grave… _

**Dirty Little Secret **Twenty 

Completely exhausted after an hour of nonstop and rigorous training, Evian hopped onto the stone framework squaring a small territory of grass that was located just a few seconds away from the hotel. Having only ten minutes to relax, she savoured the small scoop of chocolate ice cream on the sugar cone.

When Mr. MaCaffery said he wasn't going to go easy on the team anymore, and when her brother said he was going to make her train more than usual, they certainly weren't joking. Instead of one hour after breakfast, training was now extended to two hours, with a ten minute break after the first hour. There was a big jump from easy baby-like training to strict no-mercy-like training. And Evian didn't like it. To think there was still a full hour of training left after this ten minute recess made her want to run away.

But it was a bit windy, and it looked like it was about to rain, so she decided against it. Once the dark clouds started swirling around even closer, indicating it really was going to rain, Evian quickly finished her ice-cream and headed inside the hotel.

Her original plan was to finish her ice cream and then have a cigarette. Obviously that wasn't going to happen now, not when she was _inside_ the hotel lobby, where her brother was standing just a few feet away from her, talking to Kai and Ray about whatever. Hilary and Mariah were spending their ten minute break sharing a bag of chips and talking to one another.

Evian sighed, staring out the glass doors, watching as people scurried to get under a roof before potential rainfall. The cloudy weather reminded her of Toronto, and she felt homesick. She'd been away from her house, her own room, her school, her friends, and her mom for such a long time. She couldn't remember the last time she was away from home for such a lengthy period of time.

But Tala didn't have a problem. He was used to being away from home. Sort of. He always went to Grandma Eileen's over the summer and stayed there for about a month and a half. But when he came back, he always acted so strangely. It was as if he was afraid, afraid that something was after him, and even when he was at home, he wasn't safe. And that scar. She'd never forget that scar she saw a few years ago, even though it didn't mean anything back then…but it was still there, to this day…

_Evian smiled as stepped onto the stepstool and stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her mother tied her hair into two pigtails, fastening them with two baby pink hair ties. _

_"Don't I look cute, mam?" She questioned, turning around to face her 'mam'. Mam, that's what she called her mother when she was younger, realizing later that she had been saying it wrong for a very long time. _

_The red-haired woman smiled, kissing the seven year old blonde girl on the forehead, "Always," She helped the small girl step off the stepstool onto the floor, "Now go tell Tala to get ready or we'll be late for the birthday party, okay?" _

_Smiling and nodding, and overly excited about the birthday party she and her family was invited to, Evian exited the downstairs washroom and made her way up the stairs. She trailed her finger against the wall as she paced towards her brother's room, which was opposite to her parent's bedroom. Hers was located down the hall close to both her parents and her brother. _

_"Tala! Mam says to get ready for the birthday party!" She shouted, inches away from her brother's room. Seconds after her announcement, she heard a door slam shut. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was the door that belonged to her brother's room. "Hey!" She furrowed her eyebrows and pounded a fist on the door, "That's rude!" _

_"I'm changing, Evian, go away! I'm naked!" _

_"So?" _

_She turned the doorknob and started pushing the door with her back, knowing her brother was doing the same to keep her out of his room. Within seconds, Evian was victorious, and that wasn't so surprising; after all, she was much taller and much stronger than Tala. _

_"You're not naked!" She pointed at the shirtless redhead, "You're half-naked!" _

_"It still counts as being naked!" He said, grabbing a shirt off the floor. _

_"Hey, what's that on your back?" She questioned, referring to the bloody scar that was on his back, just below his neck, two inches in length at least. It looked as if it had been done by a knife or something equally sharp. But at only seven years of age, that didn't cross her mind. She didn't get into a fight with her brother, he had only come back home about a week ago from Vancouver. She frowned and placed her hands on her hips, "Did Jerry do that?" _

_"Maybe…" _

_She looked enraged, already assuming it was the scar was given to her brother by Jerry. "Really!" The redhead nodded enthusiastically, not spilling any beans for the source of his scar that was probably going to stay there for the rest of his life. "I told that butthead not to touch you again. Now he's really going to get it. I hope he's at Angela's birthday party today; then I can bite one of his ears off!" _

Evian beamed at the reminiscence of Jerry, a regular bully for Tala 'back in the days'. She never got a chance to bite his ear off or do something evenly brutal since he never showed up at Angela's birthday party because he wasn't invited.

"Almost time to go back to training, Ev,"

The blonde turned around grinning, "Remember Jerry?"

Tala looked somewhat offended, "Do I _want_ to remember Jerry?" He wondered why Evian suddenly brought up Jerry. Maybe she was just musing over her childhood…and his. "I wanted to ask if you were okay."

"Why? Oh my god, do I have bags under my eyes?" She touched bag-less spots under her eyes.

"No, Evian," The redhead rolled his eyes, directing her back to the hotel's training room, "I wanted to know if you were okay with training. You just seem really out of it lately."

"Training _is_ very boring, you know. I'd rather go shopping or look at shirtless pictures of Adam Brody." She said.

"C'mon, this is serious. During training, you're always out of breath, and I don't think you're getting enough sleep, and you're not eating that well either. Don't think I don't notice these things because I _do_," He paused, and knowing exactly what she was going to say to that, he continued, "And don't give me that 'it's-none-of-your-business' crap, because it _is_ my business, and it will be until one of us dies off."

"Girls live longer, that means you're going to die first, ha, ha." She leaned on one of the many glass doors. Even when he was being full-out serious, she wasn't. He didn't feel the need to go on about the topic. Before they knew it, the team was back in the training room, practicing their butts off for tomorrow, their second match.

**x x x **

Barn animals and clowns roamed the place, along with thousands of humans who crowded the farm-like place. The sun remained in its position, high up in the air, letting its light dance around the area. It was a gorgeous day, but this certainly wasn't a gorgeous place to be in. It smelled and cows walked around everything. Evian disliked this place.

Unexpectedly, someone grabbed her hand. Brooklyn, was it? She turned around to meet with the boy she wanted to marry in the future.

But no. It was not her future husband. It was not the boy with the stunning golden-orange hair. It was not the boy with the gorgeous pale blue eyes.

The boy was not Brooklyn. The boy was Kai. But that was okay; Evian wouldn't mind marrying Kai in the future either. After all, Kai was hot _and_ cute at the same time, and that was very rare; he was smart and intellectual, and he was confident – he had that 'I-can-take-care-of-my-woman' attitude, and that was always good.

He dragged her along behind him, looking kind of tick. He kept dialing a number on his cell phone trying to get a hold of someone. "Does Tala _always_ have his phone turned off?" He questioned angrily as he flipped the phone closed and continued rampaging through the crowd, hauling with him the blonde girl.

She didn't question him. Kai made his way towards the many parked trailers. Evian followed him until they stopped, standing beside an empty trailer. Kai looked relieved to get away from the crowd.

"Take this," He said, shoving his cell phone into her small hands. "And stay here. _Don't_ run off like Tala, I'm serious. Call him and see if he picks up. I'm going to go and look for him, and I'll be back in about fifteen minutes if I can't find him."

She looked at him as if he had ten heads. "You're going to leave me here _alone_?" She asked in disbelief.

He rolled his eyes, "Nobody's going to come out here in broad daylight and rape you, if that's what you're scared of. Besides, there are millions of people here. Stuff like what your twisted mind is thinking of only happens during late at night when you're all alone and vulnerable." He was about to leave and enter the crowd again to search for Tala. Before he could do so, a piercing gunshot was heard followed by countless screams that belonged to the people in the crowd.

"– she's totally flipped. I never wanted her on the team, I mean, _look_ at her. She's a Barbie. Beyblading and Barbie's just don't go together, Mariah. Am I the only person on this team who sees that?" There was a concise pause, "Seriously, you don't see Paris Hilton beyblading."

Opening her eyes, Evian lifted her head off the pillow and looked around the room with strands of blonde hair slightly hiding the full view. She spotted Mariah sitting on the edge of Hilary's bed, with Hilary fiddling with her launcher. The two stopped talking once they acknowledged Evian's awake.

"Look who's finally up, good morning, _Barbie_." Obviously that wasn't a friendly gesture, especially coming from the brunette.

"You better get ready," Mariah started, "We have a battle today, remember?"

Evian sat up in bed; rubbing her eyes and moving her hair away from her face, she nodded. "What time is it?"

"It's time for breakfast, but you woke up _really_ late. Get ready fast, Evian. Hilary and I are gonna go down for breakfast right now. Hurry up." The pink haired girl retreated from the bed, followed by Hilary. Without another word, the two left the hotel room leaving Evian to sit on her bed and ponder about many things: the fact that Kai was in her dreams, the fact that she woke up super late and Tala was going to kill her, the fact that she wasn't even half-ready for today's battle, and her deteriorating friendship with Mariah.

They weren't 'friends' to begin with, they were more like acquaintances. But they did hang out once they got to know each other. That all ended on that stupid day at the stupid hospital. How come everyone believed Hilary and not her? Even though Evian didn't really attempt to explain herself, everyone should have known that Evian was not the type of person to steal things. What kind of power did Hilary have that she didn't have?

Besides, it wasn't like she had a choice. She wasn't given the option to explain herself. She was specifically told, with a knife pressed against her throat, that if she told anyone, she would be killed. And she didn't want to die. To this day, she feared that man that was in her brother's hospital room.

Suddenly, the door to her hotel room swung open, interrupting her trail of thoughts. Startled, and shit scared, she screamed, hiding under her blankets. Whoever was at the door, stormed towards her and pulled the covers off her.

Upon seeing her brother – realizing it wasn't that man from the hospital like she thought it was – Evian laughed uneasily. "Okay, I _know_ it looks like I'm still in bed," She started, taking in that her brother was absolutely furious, "Totally not!"

He didn't look convinced. "You're _dead_, Evian." The redhead dived into the bed, ready to pulverize the blonde into a pulp. She shrieked, rolling off the bed. She scurried off, giggling as she did so, and locked herself in the washroom.

"Haha, sucker."

Defeated, Tala rolled his eyes. "I'm giving you five minutes in there! I'm serious!" He sighed, "And for Pete's sake, put some clothes on, you skank. There's a big difference between a piece of cloth that mom can use to wipe the kitchen counter and actual clothing."

"Yeah, well it's not everyday I expect some pervert to jump into my bed while I'm still there, _moron_." She said. She turned on the tap water to make sure she couldn't hear her brother's comebacks.

After spending good thirty or so minutes in the washroom, she was finally done. She emerged from the washroom, glad to know her brother had left and she had the room all to herself, free of any kind of nagging. However, she knew she had to hurry, training started in an hour and she only had thirty minutes to get ready and have breakfast. By noon a BBA bus would show up to pick them up for their battle.

After drying her hair and braiding it into two pigtails, she searched around for some clothes. She picked out an altered band tee for _The Strokes_; it was strapless and very fitting with hot pink hemming. After much debate between a cute white mini skirt and a pair of jean capris she hadn't worn in ages, she chose the capris. She completed the look with a pair of pink flip flops to match with the pink hemming of her top. She looked at the mirror in contentment before making her way to the hotel's eatery.

"Look who's here," Tala said, looking fairly displeased by his sister's lack of seriousness for beyblading and the tournament. "Late again." He had on that black t-shirt that said_Cool as FCUK_, where FCUK stood for French Connection UK. When she first made him get that t-shirt a few months ago, their parents were furious; they did not want to see their son wearing a t-shirt with such 'foul' language on it. After convincing her parents that it was not 'foul' language, but it was the name of the company, they were cool with it…sort of. Just because the 'foul' word wasn't spelled correctly, didn't mean nothing was implied.

"Sorry," She smiled shyly as she took a seat on the breakfast table, which was only occupied by her and her brother.

"Did you see the BBA News on TV this morning?" He asked, playing around with a napkin. "The Cali Crushers won their second tournament yesterday in London, England. One of the reporters had an interview with Dakota after the match, and _man_ did she look hot."

"Oh my god, you're so obsessed with her,"

"I'm not _obsessed_ with her; I just think she's really, really, really, really, really, _really_ hot."

"A.K.A…obsessed."

"_Not_ obsessed."

"What_ever_," She smiled in a skeptical way. "I thought you said you _hated_ blondes."

"Nooo, that's not what I said. I said I hate blondes, not _blondes_."

"I'd be lying if I said that made sense," She scrunched up her face in confusion.

"So would I." He said. "Anyway, hurry up." He ordered once her blueberry pancakes were served along with a small glass of chocolate milk.

"So you like her," Evian grinned as she dug into her breakfast.

"Would you shut up about Dakota? Seriously, if I didn't know any better, I'd say _you_ were obsessed with her."

"Well she _is_ pretty," Evian beamed, "So how are you going to tell her? Are you going to go up to her and be like 'oh my god Dakota, I totally love you, marry me!' or are you going to stalk her from afar and watch her when she's changing?"

"Just eat your fucking pancakes," He tried to swap the subject for a second time. The truth was – and who'd know better than Evian? – that he was totally crushing on former world champ, Dakota. He was very open about girls, but it usually took him a while to confess and come clean about his love life…or 'crush' life in this case.

Once she finished her breakfast, Tala dragged her into the training room; that was _after_ she attempted to run away. "Training won't be that long today, quit worrying,"

"But it's _so_ boring," She whined, plopping down on the carpeted floor of the training room. She looked up at the redhead, "And I'm getting cramps…"

"_Ewww_," He looked horror-struck, "I didn't need to know that."

"Yes you did."

"Even-so, you still have to train." He said, yanking her by the arm and making her stand up. "C'mon, just a few more minutes and then you're out of here."

She crossed her arms and rested her head on her brother's shoulder leisurely, "But this is super boring. I'm going to die, Tala."

He rolled his eyes, "Nobody ever died from training, Evian. If you train now, then I'll get you candy later."

She lifted her head and uncrossed her arms, "Really! Like Starburst? No wait, I want Smarties today. Actually no, those will make my teeth like blue and purple and whatever. How about ice cream? Can I get ice cream?"

"_Fine_." He sighed.

"We haven't had ice cream in such a long time." She spoke.

"What are you talking about? We have like, four tubs of ice cream at home, _Blondie_." He playfully pulled on one of her pigtails, referring to her using the pet name Kai had given her. The only reason they had so many containers of ice cream was because Tala and Evian never agreed on the same flavour of ice cream. Mint chocolate chip and chocolate caramel belonged to Evian. Strawberry and vanilla was always Tala's. And neither of them dared to touch the other person's tub of ice cream; that would create a war zone in the house.

"I mean at an actual ice cream store, you know, like _Dairy Queen_ or _Baskin Robins_ or something. We only used to do that on Friday's after baseball practice, remember? Dad would give you like five bucks, and we'd go get ice cream."

He nodded at the memory. "Back to training, Evian."

"But I don't _want_ to."

"C'mon, quit being a bitch. We have a battle today, and unlike you, I plan on winning. I don't want to be trashed in the tabloids again."

Evianexhaled out loudly, preparing to launch her beyblade into the dish.

Once the BBA bus came, the team filed into the form of transportation. The bus was the size of a standard city bus; there were a lot more seats than needed for only seven people. Like always, everyone sat with their partners, and Mr. MaCaffery talked to the bus driver.

"- and this line tells you how much fortune you'll have when you grow up, and this line represents your bad luck and this line tells you how you will die and this line -"

"Okay, Evian, I think I get the point, god," Tala pulled his hand away from his sister, who apparently claimed she could 'read palms' and predict his future. So far, it was a load of bull.

"Aw, but I was having fun; your future looks so much better than mine," She slouched back into her seat. "Look at this," She pointed at her right palm, "My 'lucky line' is so much shorter than yours."

"You're so retarded, Evian," The redhead rolled his eyes. Evian sighed, looking more bored than ever. She didn't like being on this stupid bus not being able to do anything interesting. She couldn't even put nail polish on her fingernails to prettify them since the bus kept shaking. She couldn't do _anything_.

"Tala, I'm bored."

"Let's make out then,"

"_Ew_, god, you're so dirty," She backed away from the redhead in utter disgust, even though she knew he was only joking around. She exhaled noisily and looked around the bus. The couple of front seats of the bus were occupied by the lovebirds; Kai was whispering things in Hilary's ear, making her giggle. Funny, Evian wasn't aware Hilary had the ability to even smile. Ray was reading a book. Mariah was pretending to sleep.

Evian looked back at Ray. She eyed the book he was reading. Something on the left page caught her eye. A picture. The image depicted that of a fox, or wolf, or whatever, but one that she had seen _before_, recently. Evian furrowed her eyebrows; the picture looked so much like that 'creature' she had seen at the park the day she and her brother got into a fight.

"What?" Ray questioned, not feeling too comfortable as Evian looked at him.

She looked a bit taken aback, "Can I see that book for a second?"

"Uh, sure…" He handed the thick paperback to the blonde.

"Thank you!" Evian looked overjoyed by Ray's politeness. She smiled at him before turning her attention towards the book.

"You're going to _read_?" Tala asked. "You hate reading."

"I'm just bored," She shrugged, flipping through the pages until she spotted the picture she had seen seconds ago. She examined the picture carefully.

"Hey, that's Stardust,"

"It's _what_?"

"Stardust," Tala repeated, "A bit beast. No one owns it yet, from what I've heard." He added. "My ex-girlfriend wanted that bit beast."

"Why?"

Tala shrugged, "Guess she liked electricity,"

Evian didn't get it, "How is electricity related to Stardust or whatever?"

"Electrical energy is Stardust's element. All bit beasts have an element. Wolborg has snow and ice; Dranzer has fire; Drigger has an earth element, get it?"

She nodded. "Cool…"

"Thunder and lightning – it's a pretty rare element."

"Really?" Her olive green orbs were literally glued to the picture of Stardust. She _wanted_ that bit beast. In fact, she'd be fine with _any_ bit beast. She just wanted one. Her brother had one. Why couldn't she have one? "So why didn't Samara get the bit beast if she liked it so much?" She referred to her brother's ex.

"Because, Evian, I told you," He sighed, "_You_ can't get a bit beast; the bit beast comes to you, if it likes you. According to what it says here," He pointed at a paragraph, "Stardust is looking for a vibrant, straight-thinking kind of owner."

"Am I 'vibrant and straight-thinking'?"

"_You_?" He laughed.

"Yeah…"

"Of course not! You're _anything_ but practical, god Evian. Forget Stardust. You'll _never_ get this bit beast, and I'm _so_ serious."

Well _that_ made her self-esteem and sense of worth nose-dive down to god-knows-where. _Thanks a lot, Tala, _she thought mordantly. After a while, she gave the book back to Ray. Why did she even _bother_? Maybe she was hallucinating. Maybe there was no creature at all. Maybe there was nothing. Maybe she would _never_ get a bit beast. Tala said so. She wasn't 'practical'. She'd never get her hands on a bit beast.

The Skittles arrived at New York's BBA Stadium shortly after, arriving well over an hour before their match. Unlike last time, however, Tala and Kai thought it would be best if the team _didn't_ separate. They stayed in their locker room instead.

"Today we're going to face _The Shredders_, the team that lost to the Cali Crushers yesterday," Tala said, making a face as he read out the name of the team; clearly, he thought it to be a lame team name, "This team comes from India, and this is their first match in the U.S. Not all of them have bit beasts, only three of them do, and that's to our advantage I hope."

For once, Evian didn't feel so left-out and disgraced for not having a bit beast.

"And like us, they are a new team; they've never entered a BBA competition before." Tala added. He paused for a while, reading a few more things on the paper he was given from the BBA, "K, me and my sister will go against Ravi and Sonia, Kai and Hilary, you guys are going against Natasha and Karan, and Ray and Mariah, you two are facing…_Angelee_? Anajelli? Okay, I can't really pronounce her name, but you'll know who I'm talking about once you get there, and her partner is Nishan. Everyone clear on that?"

Everyone nodded, including Evian.

"Great! Anyways, we have about an hour to spare, but no one leaves this room," The redhead eyed his sister. "Play cards or something, people."

"And," Kai started, "If you need to go to the washroom, remember your 'washroom buddies'."

"But I'm a girl…" Evian protested, "I can't take my brother to the washroom with me. That's like super gross and totally inhumane. Oh, and there's _no_ way I'm going into the guy's washroom. Last time I went into the men's restroom, I was literally scarred for life. Boys are _so _dirty. _Ew_."

Tala looked at Evian like she had ten heads, "What were you doing in a guys' washroom anyway? Wait, forget I asked. I don't think I want to know," He shuddered, "And if you need to go to the washroom, take Mariah with you then."

To idle away the hours, Ray, Mariah, and Hilary played cards like their team captain had proposed, Evian annoyed the shit out of Tala, and Kai watched the twins bicker with a bag of popcorn. No one was stupid enough to miss out on free entertainment.

"Just _shut_ up, Evian!"

"But I'm bored…"

"Go pee; tell Mariah you have to go pee. Go to the washroom and _don't_ come back."

"But I just went like fifteen minutes ago."

"Then quit bugging me,"

"But I'm bored,"

"Dad!" Frustrated beyond his limits, the redhead turned to Mr. MaCaffery, "Tell her to shut up!"

"Evian…" Mr. MaCaffery narrowed his eyes at the blonde, "Don't bother Tala."

"I'm not," She grinned.

"Yes she is; she won't stop talking."

"I can't shut up. I have to talk. That's what a mouth is for, you know."

"Well then stop asking me stupid questions, god."

The stream of annoying questions and worthless blabbing never came to an end, and it was evident that by the end of the hour, half of Tala's brain cells had died and he was probably going to lose his battle. The team made their way out to the benches as the introductions were being made. Unlike the last battle, The Shredders and The Skittles were getting equivalent amounts of attention.

The competition initiated. The twins were up first.

"Just _focus_." Tala reminded the blonde, who only nodded in reaction. What he didn't know was that Evian didn't know what that meant. She didn't know what he meant by 'focus'. She _was_ focusing, wasn't she? She was looking at her beyblade; she was looking at the beydish.

"Bladers are you ready!" Jazzman yelled into the microphone, making everyone deaf.

_No_… Evian thought as she readied her beyblade.

"3…2…1…you know what to do, bladers! Go!"

All four beyblades landed on the dish.

"Hey! That was a perfect launch, Evian!" The redhead commented.

"_Really_?" She looked ecstatic. She looked thrilled. She looked…indescribable!

"Now just concentrate, k?"

"Okay," She nodded, even though she had absolutely _no_ clue what she was supposed to do. Sonia and her partner, however, worked together in sync even though her partner didn't have a bit beast. Tala called out Wolborg right after his opponent did. Sonia and Ravi had difficulty hanging on once Wolborg froze the entire beydish with a thick, uneven coat of ice.

"This is not over yet," Ravi spoke, with an accent.

"Yeah," The team captain of The Skittles agreed, "But it will be soon. Finish it, Wolborg!" And with its final attack, the match came to an end. "Yo! We won!"

But Evian didn't feel that way. _They _didn't win. He did. All by himself. Nonetheless, she put on a smile and acted just as happy as he was. It wasn't hard to act. She did it all the time. And no one suspected a thing. She was a natural.

The second duo from The Shredders made a comeback, however, by whipping Kai and Hilary's ass in the second round. The couple was pretty taken aback by their unexpected loss, after all, they _both_ had bit beasts, and Kai was one of the strongest links The Skittles had to offer. That being said, Mariah and Ray were fairly concerned for the outcome of their battle.

**x x x **

"- and The Skittles must learn that beyblading for the BBA is not just about publicity and having remarkably good looking team members, but about the sport itself. Even with a significant competitive advantage over The Shredders, the young Torontonians lost yesterday's match. They are now one competition away from being eliminated from the tournament." Finishing the last paragraph of the front page article in the _Blade Daily_, Tala threw the newspaper down on the table and crossed his arms angrily. "Why don't we just go home _willingly_? We're going to lose the third match in Las Vegas anyway."

"Now, there's no need to lose hope," Mr. MaCaffery started, finishing the remainder of his breakfast.

"Yes there is! We've lost two matches in a row! We can't win! This team sucks! Seriously, _look_ at us. People on this team don't get along, no one cares…" He trailed off. He was mad. But he didn't know at what or at whom in particular. But he had to be mad at _someone_, otherwise it would be irrational. "_You_ need to train more and stop your complaining." He looked at the blonde that was sitting across the table, eating breakfast just like everyone else. She looked quite surprised, and then just plain angry.

"Hey! I train a lot more than I want to! Besides, it's not my fault you suck at beyblading."

"I don't _suck_ at beyblading! I've _always_ beybladed! What are you talking about? Beyblaing is my life! The only person that sucks on this team is _you_, Evian."

"Maybe I should quit then!"

"Maybe you should!"

"Maybe the both of you should can it!" Ray joined in, firing at the twins.

"Stay out of this, Kon!"

"No, _you_ stay out of this!" Evian countered, kicking Tala from under the table.

"All of you be quiet!" Mr. MaCaffery raised his voice drastically. Immediately, the table silenced and everyone had their eyes on the coach. Mr. MaCaffery turned to face the redhead, "I don't _ever_ want to see you verbally attacking your sister like that." He then eyed Evian, "And I'd appreciate it if you would reduce your violent tendencies; don't hit your brother."

The twins remained soundless and attempted to finish their breakfast.

"I apologize on behalf of Tala and Evian's behaviour," Mr. MaCaffery spoke to the rest of the team, "Clearly they haven't matured yet. Shameful, _very_ shameful! You two are almost adults!"

While Evian and Tala were getting lectured, the rest of the team tried to hold back their laughter; it _was_ kind of funny to see two seventeen year old siblings get yelled at by their father, especially in public.

"I want everyone to enjoy their last day in New York; we're leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow, early in the morning. But first, we have training." Mr. MaCaffery announced.

"Two hours of training isn't enough for _some_ people," Tala said, "Ev needs all the practice she can get; I think an extra hour would be beneficial for her."

"I agree," Hilary added, "No offence Mr. MaCaffery, but Evian is a beginner and she _seriously_ needs to get better at the sport. We've only got one more match left to prove ourselves."

"Hmm," Mr. MaCaffery looked at the brunette and then the redhead, "You think so?"

"I am _not_ training for three hours," Evian retorted, "That's super insane. I'm not doing it."

"She _has_ to, dad! I don't want to lose our third match and go home! We didn't cut classes and waste our times training for no reason!" Tala reasoned.

"Excellent point," Mr. MaCaffery said, nodding. "Evian, you _do_ need to get better at beyblading otherwise both you and your brother will have trouble when it comes to the actual competition. And we only have one more chance."

"You said it yourself, dad, _practice makes perfect_. She'll get better at it if she trains more." The redhead added. "An extra hour after breakfast and an extra hour before dinner."

Evian's eye's widened. That was _too_ much. That totaled to roughly five hours of training a day. She was already having difficulty with the current training schedule. There was absolutely _no_ need for five hours of training a day, it was crazy. She was enraged; Tala was doing it on purpose! He knew how much she hated training! Yet he was purposely telling their father she needed more training when she didn't! He was getting her back for kicking him.

"Okay, once we arrive at Las Vegas, the new routine will be this," Mr. MaCaffery started, "After breakfast, the team will have a two hour training session with a ten minute recess in between. After two hours, the team is free to go except Evian; you'll get a ten minute break and then for another hour, your brother and I will help you get better at beyblading. Same thing happens before dinner; Evian will train for an extra hour, starting an hour before the team trains."

Evian crossed her arms, "Dad, I am _not_ training more than everyone else. That's not fair."

"That's because not everyone else needs the extra practice, Evian. I assure you it'll go by really fast."

"You're only saying I need more practice because Tala said so! That's not fair! I _don't_ need extra practice! And I'm not going to do it!" She wanted to personally go up to her brother and strangle him. But she didn't want to go to jail; therefore, strangling her brother was not an option. But a tantrum was.

"Evian, it will be helpful for you. Don't you want to get better at beyblading?" Mr. MaCaffery tried to explain to his daughter that a few extra hours of training wouldn't hurt. "Once you get better, you won't have to do extra training, I promise."

This is how it always went! The story was always biased and her father always ended up siding with Tala! It wasn't fair! What about _her_! Just because she was a blonde didn't mean she didn't have opinions! She had lots of opinions! She had _tons_ of opinions! She just had a hard time explaining them…

She resisted the urge to fling her plate across the table and throw it at either her brother or her father. Instead, she pushed her chair back with a screech and stood up, "I quit the team!" And with that, she darted out of the eatery and exited the hotel. She fished out her pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the pockets of her fitting pink zip up hoodie. She walked aimlessly down the unfamiliar streets of New York, not caring if she got lost or if someone kidnapped her or _whatever_.

She quit the team. That's all that mattered.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**I have to admit, this chapter sucked. It sounded good when I wrote it, but not when I reread it. The ending sucked too. Oh well. I have the next chapter written, and you WILL like it! Trust me! There's a little Kai/Evian thing! **

**I'm really sorry for updating so LATE! This month was super hectic! I just had my prom on Thursday – which kicked royal ass – and I had to go dress shopping, this and that shopping, and catching up on school work since exams are coming up and whatever. **

**My grad is on the 28th of June. I can't believe I'm going to be out of high school! Guys! This is super scary! Omfg! I cannnnooottt believe it! I still don't make my own bed! (I'm serious. My mom still does it for me…) **

**Anyways, thanks to EVVVERYYYYYONEEEEEE who reviewed! Sorry I can't list everyone right now and answer all the questions (it's 1:15 AM! And I'm only having dinner NOW! WTF! And plus there's scary noises coming from the kitchen and I want to get out of here as fast as possible...). Don't worry, I'll do it next chapter for SURE! **

**ANNNNNDDDDDD…**About last chapter. I apologize if anyone was offended by the whole 'suicide' thing. I know I probably offended one reviewer, who I've talked to. I try to make this story as less biased as possible. Anyway…enjoy:D

**PS: The next chapter is AWESOME! Guaranteed! I promise! Lol. **


	21. Chapter 21

_I wanna have the same last dream, the one where I wake up and I'm alive. _

**DLS**_21 _

As heavy rain plummeted downwards in the city of New York, everyone scurried to get under a shelter just like last time. Evian jogged towards a nearby _Starbucks_ coffee shop, getting away from the cold, windy, wet weather. It had rained continuously for a few minutes, and already she was drenched head-to-toe. She really wished she hadn't run off like that, especially since she was wearing nothing but a pair of tiny jean shorts, a thin pink hoodie that did absolutely nothing to keep her even slightly warm, and a pair of white flip flops.

Everyone else had on their winter jackets and dressed accordingly to the weather. New York was very close to Toronto, which meant the weather for both cities were similar, and _that_ meant it was cold in New York at the moment. The temperatures hadn't gone below zero yet, but they were close.

She shivered as she entered the coffee shop, taking in the warmth that was provided by the heaters. She seated herself at a table for two, one that was right by the heater. She placed her hands over the heater and then placed them on her cheeks. Oh how she _wished_ she had at least dressed in something other than shorts today. She had dressed knowing that she was going to be indoors.

While trying to warm herself up, she scanned the coffee shop. Her mouth literally watered at the sight of all the baked goods displayed by the cash register in the front. The truth was Evian was starving. She only had half her breakfast and it was way past lunch time. But she had no money on her. Maybe she should have nicked a few bucks off her brother before she left, that way she could have gotten herself a fruit salad.

She caught a quick glimpse of the cashier looking at her weirdly. She understood why; no one else was in here sitting like a hobo in the corner by the heaters, soaked in rain water, dressed unsuitably for the weather, with nothing to eat. Once she realized that other people in the coffee shop were giving her strange looks as well, she felt uncomfortable. She felt unwanted. But she didn't want to go back outside; it was freezing.

She felt angry all over again. About an hour after she ran away, she expected Tala and her father to look for her. She purposely lounged close by the hotel region, knowing that they _would_ look for her. But they didn't. And that's what angered her. So she let herself travel further and further down the streets until she was finally lost and couldn't find her way back to the hotel. She could always call her brother on his cell phone and tell him she was lost. But she didn't want to phone him and tell him that. She wanted him to feel guilty and come and look for her. And even if she wanted to phone him, she couldn't; she didn't have a quarter to use a payphone. Surprisingly, she wasn't nervous by the fact that she was utterly lost.

Suddenly, someone nearby gasped, "Oh my god! You're Evian, right?" A haze of blonde dashed by and seated herself on the other end of the table for two.

Evian eyed the stranger sitting in front of her and gasped. "_Dakota_?"

"Yup, the one and only!" The tousle-haired girl grinned, "Even though it's a common name." She ran her fingers through her hair, "I'm surprised you still remember me."

Evian couldn't help but smile, "Of course I remember you!" How could she not? _This_ was the girl that her brother had fancied a few days ago. "What are you doing in New York?"

"Oh, we just got here last night from England. I am _so_ tired and I had to walk down the street in a disguise because people were asking for my autograph. There were even people waiting in front of our hotel rooms, and I was like, okay, I'd like my fair share of privacy here." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I saw you guys on TV and the BBA Daily and stuff. You guys won your thing against that team from India."

"Uh huh, and then your team faced them yesterday, right?" Dakota asked. "I saw on the BBA News this morning. But don't worry, I mean, they were a pretty tough team, you know."

"I guess," Evian shrugged, "Why are you in New York?"

"We have another match here in like, three or four days. Gosh, I'm so stressed, seriously. We got here last night, and everyone from my team boozed up. They were totally hammered, and Tyson was completely stoned, honestly, he was _so_ high last night it wasn't even funny. I actually thought he was going to die. Hiro woke up in the balcony like, half naked this morning."

"_Oh_ my god, I can totally relate." Evian rolled her eyes.

"Really? Man…" Dakota sighed, "I mean, I don't mind drinking occasionally, but jeez," She shook her head. "My team's insane. Anyways…" She trailed off, "Aren't you cold? You're like dressed for California or something," Dakota chuckled. "And you're all wet, it's like you decided to take a shower with your clothes on and then go outside."

"It's a long story,"

"Oh," The other blonde said, "Hey, where's your boyfriend?" She inquired.

"What boyfriend?" Evian asked with a perplexed expression.

"Y'know, that guy from your team; the one that was smart enough to lend you his shirt when I accidentally got you all wet. I swear it was an accident, Evian," Dakota let out a small laugh, "And I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Evian shrugged it off. And then it hit her, "Wait, you think _Tala_ is my boyfriend? You mean the idiot with red hair? He's like this tall…"

"Oh, I'm sorry; did you guys just break up or something?" Dakota asked; her steely grey eyes filled with concern and apology. Evian couldn't believe it – did her brother fall for a complete meathead this time?

Evian decided to just get to the point, "Tala is my brother…" The look on Dakota's face was incalculable, "We're twins…"

"_No_…" Dakota's voice was barely a whisper and she looked downright shocked.

"Yeah…"

"Are you _joking_?" The other blonde asked. "Girl, you are _totally_ joking, right?"

"No, he's really my brother. We come from the same family."

Dakota's mouth hung open for a few seconds and then, "Oh, thank you god, thank you god, thank you _god_!" She grinned, "You have no idea how happy this makes me! Honestly, I thought you were his girlfriend! You guys look _nothing_ alike! Holy shit! Oh my god!"

"I know, everyone says that. We don't even have anything in common."

Dakota grinned mischievously, "Nah," She said, "You guys have _one_ thing in common: attractiveness! Really! You're as cute as a button and I love those dimples, I swear, and your brother is _the_ hottest thing I've ever seen. I am so serious. He is _so_ hot. Back in the stadium, I was like, whoa, someone turned up the heater in here, and I was being a dummy by singing that Nelly song, y'know, _its getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes_," The blonde grinned as she sung the lyrics to the hit song that was released a few years ago and let out a small laugh, "And then Tyson got mad at me."

Now it was Evian's turn to be blatantly astounded. Numerous things about Dakota surprised Evian, like her extreme openness, and the fact that she had a liking – a _serious_ liking – towards her brother, and that Dakota was telling her all this stuff right in front of her, to her face.

Wow.

Evian smiled. She liked Dakota. She _really_ liked Dakota. Not the way her brother liked her, of course, but as a human being, a companion.

"I'm so glad you're his sister, otherwise I'd back-off, because you know, I'm not a man-stealer. I'm a good girl," Dakota smiled, "He _is_ single, right?"

"Yeah…" Evian answered.

"So where is he?"

"He's back at the hotel, I think."

"Does he have a cell phone or something?" She asked. Evian nodded. Dakota smirked, taking out her own cell phone from her pockets, "What's his number?"

**x x x **

"I am going to _kill_ that bitch when I find her," Tala grumbled as he walked down the somewhat empty streets of New York.

"We'll find her, relax," Kai said.

"That's what you said three hours ago, dick," The redhead stuffed his hands into his pockets. "It's fucking freezing out here. She's gonna catch a cold or something; she ran out of the hotel dressed like a fucking whore."

"Would you calm down? Seriously. We'll find her. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but your sister isn't a dumb ass. Even if _we_ don't find her, she can find her way back to the hotel."

"Yeah," Tala sighed, "But she won't live very long, because I _will_ kill her." He looked around the streets frantically. The team separated to look for her and Mr. MaCaffery stayed at the hotel incase she came back. "Where the fuck is she? It's fucking five o'clock!"

Kai rolled his eyes at the worried redhead. With one hand, he held the umbrella, with the other, he checked the time displayed on his cell phone. It was four minutes after five o'clock and Evian had left the hotel sometime around nine in the morning. He sighed, "Your sister is crazy, you know that?"

"Hell I do," He said, "I hate her. She makes me feel like shit. I don't think she had any money with her either. She's probably really hungry. I feel so bad."

"You know you started it, right?"

"So you're on her side now?" Tala eyed the vice captain, "What? You have a thing for my sister or something?"

Kai looked at Tala with a look of dismay, "Stop fucking around, man."

"It was a joke, you little shit. Quit being all menstrual like Ev," Tala said. Unexpectedly, he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pockets. "Maybe the others found her or something," He said to no one in particular, answering the phone anxiously. He looked at the number presented on the small LCD screen, "Who the fuck?" He made a face, "Hello?"

"Yo,"

Tala furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Who is this?"

"Your mother." The voice from the other line stated. It sounded like a girl, but it most certainly wasn't his mother.

But Tala really wasn't in the mood to be joked around with, "Who is this, man?"

He heard a giggle, "It's Dakota! Remember me? You know, we battled."

Tala's initial reaction was his mouth hanging open, attracting flies, and maybe even a few birds. "Oh shi -" The redhead stopped himself from cursing. Was that girl serious? Was it really Dakota? _If it was, you just blew your chance, asshole._ He thought. "_Dakota_? As in, the one from that team? From California?"

"'Course!" She laughed. "I hope you don't mind me calling you; your sister gave me your number. I asked her for it though."

"My sister? Wait, Evian's with you?" Tala questioned. Immediately he stopped walking and focused on the phone call. Kai looked at Tala questioningly, wanting some answers. "Where? Oh, Starbucks? Where's that? Down where? Oh…" There was a pause as Kai desperately tried to understand what was going on, "Alright, we'll be there in a few minutes. Thanks…k, bye," The redhead flipped the phone closed.

"That was Dakota?" Kai asked, "_The_ Dakota?"

"Yeah, and apparently Ev's with her at Starbucks." Tala said, as he begun walking again.

"Which one?" Kai asked. "There's like a million Starbucks' in New York."

"The one downtown by some bowling alley. I can't believe Evian went all the way downtown, shit."

"We can't walk all the way there; we have to take a taxi to get there. And how the _hell_ did she get your number?"

**x x x **

Back in the coffee shop, Evian was in the middle of an anecdote and Dakota was listening absorbedly, "- and I was like, _no_, and he was like, _yeah_, and I was like, oh my god, you can't like, do that, and he actually did! Can you _believe_ it? I mean, that was totally unfair, and I also think that's like against the law or something," Evian rolled her eyes, taking out her lip gloss and applying it on her lips. Suddenly, Dakota giggled. "What?"

Dakota's steely grey eyes looked beyond Evian, but before Evian could peek over her shoulders, she felt something snake around her shoulders from behind her. She literally jumped in her seat in terror.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"

She'd recognize that voice anywhere, "_No_," She removed her brother's arms off of her, "Don't touch me."

"Too bad," He wrapped his arms around his sister once again, this time strongly, despite her warning, "You're _my_ sister, therefore you are _mine_, and I can do whatever I want."

From the other side of the table, Dakota snickered, and Kai rolled his eyes at the stubbornness the twins possessed as he took a seat on one of the extra chairs.

"No you can't," Evian objected.

"Yes I can," The redhead protested.

"Nuh-uh," The blonde shook her head, but even when she was arguing with him, she felt a smile creep up to her lips. She didn't know why. Sometimes she couldn't help but smile even when she was getting into trouble, and why she smiled at times like these, was unexplainable.

"Yuh-huh," He placed a kiss on her cheek, "I'm sorry."

She grinned, "It's okay."

"Wow! You guys make up so fast!" Dakota commented in utter admiration. "Now that that's behind us," She eyed the redhead, "You planning to have a seat, sexy?"

_That_ was an unexpected greeting. Nonetheless, Tala had no problem coping with the situation; he grinned, "Of course, baby." He grabbed a seat beside the tousle-haired blonde. "My sister bugging you?"

"Are you kidding? I _love_ your sister, in fact, Evian and I should get married," Dakota chuckled, running a hand through her sand blonde hair.

"Nah," The redhead contradicted, "You should get married to me instead, trust me, I'll be more _satisfying_,"

Evian furrowed her eyebrows and wrinkled her nose; Tala and Dakota were _openly_ flirting with each other; it was just a wonder they weren't already making out hardcore, just ready to rip each other's clothes off and have sex on the table or the floor, even though it had only been roughly five seconds since they started talking. Christ.

But she didn't interrupt them. Tala had already owed her a pending apology. She wasn't mad anymore, and he was free to do whatever he wanted, and that just happened to be playing around with Evian's brand new friend, Dakota. _Aw, they look so adorable together_.

"You're all wet; you're going to catch a cold,"

Evian turned to find the one who interrupted her trail of thoughts. The interrupter was Kai. Instead of looking at her straight in the eye, he kept his eyes glued to the table, the floor, the walls, and everything else but her face. He prepared to take off his jacket, shaking it off from his arms and situated it on the table, close to Evian, "Put that on before you get sick."

Astonished by Kai's sudden courteous, 'boy-next-door' mind-set, Evian didn't even realize she had already accepted the black brand name jacket as she willingly draped it over her shoulders. Even though it was two sizes or so too big for her, she didn't mind because it supplied her with newfound warmth…and it was a very good looking jacket.

"Thanks," The corn blonde smiled. He just shrugged and slouched back in his seat, jacketless.

_He's so bi-polar_, Evian thought, _first he likes me, then he hates me, then he hates me even more, and now he likes me again. I think._

**x x x **

Yawning, Evian looked around the New York airport. Even at five in the morning, such an early hour, the airport was packed with myriads of travelers, among them were a few teams even, ones that Evian had never seen or heard of before. They were from various categories and countries.

Her own team sat in the waiting room closely together to ensure no one would get lost at such an important time. Their flight was in about an hour, and once on the plane, they would arrive in Las Vegas in roughly two to three hours, where they would check into yet another hotel, and go on from there.

Mr. MaCaffery engaged in a game of _Crazy Eights_ with Mariah, Hilary, and Ray, but after losing a few times, Ray quit and decided to go off and look out the large window and watch as the airplanes took off and landed. Kai was worrying over the flight and like last time, he didn't want to go on board. Tala dozed off a while ago, using several seats and Evian's lap as a makeshift bed. And Evian herself? She was busy trying to spot a few hot guys. Alas, there were none…yet.

Well that wasn't entirely true. There _was_ one. And he was sitting just a few seats away from Evian. But Evian knew it was useless thinking about him, because Kai belonged to Hilary. _The good ones are ALWAYS taken, it's so unfair. Adam Brody is taken, Johnny Depp is taken, and so is Jared Padalecki, and Ashton Kutcher, and Tom Welling, and Jake Gyllenhaal and… _

Her track of thoughts was broken up by an unexpected groan. Evian slowly turned her head in Kai's direction. He was sprawled on his seat with his hood over his head. Suddenly he looked over at her direction as well, and she nearly fell off her seat. Her cheeks heated up and her face turned as red as her brother's hair as a result of utter embarrassment. She hoped Kai didn't notice the fact that she was drooling over his extreme hotness.

This was so awkward. Why did awkward things always happen to her? Like the time she and Tala's girlfriend had an argument at school, and the next day, she came over while Tala wasn't home, or the time when Evian walked in on her parents making out in the kitchen, or the time her brother almost came into her room while she was changing and getting ready for school.

To ease the tension, she began playing around with her brother's cell phone. Within seconds, she had completely forgotten about Kai as she began fooling around with the ring tones. Her brother was going to kill her, but it was totally worth it! Before she could progress further with her wickedness, a small window popped up on the screen:

_New SMS Message: View?_

While she was curious, she didn't want to infringe on her brother's privacy and read the text message without his permission.

"Poo-face, you have a message," She shoved the redhead.

"I'm _trying_ to get some sleep, Evian…"

"Look, someone texted you," She waved the cell phone in front of his face.

"Why do you have my cell phone?" He looked at her with one eye open. "Give me that," He snatched the cell phone out of her hands.

"Who's it from?" She questioned.

"Mind your own business, Blondie." He said, holding the phone at an angle, preventing his sister from viewing the message.

"Hey!" She furrowed her eyebrows, "You said that _my_ business was _your_ business, so that means _your_ business is _my_ business."

He smirked, "Too bad, that only works when men say it,"

She gasped, "Sexist!" She made a grab for the phone, but with no avail.

"Feminist." While trying to fight off the vicious blonde with one hand, he quickly read the message: _hey sexie, have a safe flight nd dun b meen 2 mi evian. xoxo, dakota._

Tala grinned at the short text message. He was scoring _big_ time with this girl! And he had literally only met her yesterday! And that was all thanks to his sister's tantrum-like behaviour. He should get his sister angrier more often.

"Give it to me!" Evian shouted, still trying to reach for the cell phone.

"Ew, Evian. I'm your brother. If I give 'it' to you, that's like incest, man."

That statement earned him a whack across the head, "I meant the phone, you sick moron!"

"You two, stop fighting," Mr. MaCaffery sighed. "Everyone's watching."

"He won't let me see his text message!" Evian complained, crossing her arms.

"If he doesn't want to show you, Evian, you can't make him. It's his cell phone and the message is for him."

"It's not fair. How come _I_ don't have a cell phone?" She mumbled.

"Because you lost yours, Evian," Mr. MaCaffery reasoned, "And it was a very expensive one, double how much we paid for your mom's cell phone _and_ your brother's."

"Because it was cute and pink and I like expensive things. Expensive things indicate _quality_." She articulated.

"And we made a deal," Her father continued, "When you get an eighty-average on your report card like your brother, your mom and I will get you another cell phone."

She exhaled out loudly, "So basically what you're saying is, I'll only get another cell phone in my _dreams_," She rolled her eyes. "I'll _never_ get an eighty-average in real life, dad. You know that. I'm dumb."

"Don't say that, honey," Mr. MaCaffery objected, "You're very intelligent; you just have to put in some effort and use your brain."

"If she even _has_ a brain." Tala snickered.

"Tala…" Mr. MaCaffery eyed the redhead sternly.

"I was just joking, god," The redhead defended himself. Mr. MaCaffery went back to playing cards with Hilary and Mariah, who seemed to be chuckling lightly at what Tala had said about Evian having no brain. Tala noticed his sister's sudden mood-swing. He felt blameworthy. "It was from Dakota." He finally said.

She lightened up a little, "What did she say?"

"Read it," He said, shoving the cell phone towards her. After reading the contents, Evian grinned.

"Oooh, she likes you."

"She does _not_."

"She calls you sexy,"

"That's because I _am_," He grinned, putting the cell phone back in his pockets.

She rolled her eyes, "Stop flattering yourself, Tala,"

He winked, "I'm sexy-licious,"

"You're gay,"

"But you still love me,"

"Not because I _want_ to," She started, "But because I _have_ to." The hour dwindled away, and The Skittles were finally at the departure gates. Trying to get Kai on the plane was like trying to push a cow off a cliff. In other words, it was a difficult task for the team. Once on the plane however, Kai wasn't the only person with issues.

For some reason, Evian had gotten extremely cranky. She'd behave like a five year old, throwing ten-second tantrums every now and then for no apparent motive, hitting Tala once in a while – talk about violent tendencies. A few times, he would hit her back, but not as hard because he had no intention of hurting her. Being equally aggressive as her would only escalate the situation to a worse level. And he knew that even though the reason behind her bad-temper wasn't crystal clear, there _was_ a rationale. Maybe she was just getting sick of traveling so much – maybe she was a bit nostalgic. But that was only an educated guess. Even Evian didn't know why she felt so ratty. The only person that _did _know was Kai.

It stopped nevertheless, once they were off the aircraft. Mr. MaCaffery quickly checked the exhausted team into a nearby hotel, where another problem stirred up.

"There are _lots_ of teams staying in this hotel from all over the world. I only managed to get four rooms for this team." Mr. MaCaffery started.

"Four rooms? That's way more than enough. We only need two, and one for you, dad." Tala said.

"That's the problem," Mr. MaCaffery said, "One is a single room that I got for myself, and that was the only single room left in the entire hotel. The other three are supposed to be shared with just two people."

"So what's the problem? Mariah and I will share a room. That means there are two more rooms left." Hilary stated.

"And that's where the problem begins," Mr. MaCaffery eyed his daughter. "I'll tell you what, you can either take the single room, and I'll share the other room with your brother, or _you_ can share the room with your brother."

The blonde seemed troubled, not by the fact that she had to share a room with her brother, but by that fact that Mariah was siding with Hilary, "Why can't _I_ share with Mariah?"

"Sorry, Evian," The pink-haired girl looked apologetic, "I'll share with you next time, I promise."

_Yeah right!_ Evian thought. This feeling of unwanted-ness was starting to take a toll on the young adult. Only a few people on the team sensed the poisoned environment that was created.

"Why can't the three of you just share _one_ room? I mean, you're all girls anyway," Kai shrugged, "Even if there's only two beds, someone can take the couch; you guys can rotate."

"_No_ Kai; that would be a hassle." Hilary reasoned.

"How will it be a 'hassle'? It's so simple." The bluenette protested. "These hotel rooms are pretty big, there's lots of space. Just take her with you guys," He referred to the blonde. "It's not like we're staying here forever, we're only here for a few days."

"Why don't you take the big room, Evian?" Mr. MaCaffery suggested. "It will be like your own room."

No it wouldn't. Evian's room was spacious and familiar and she always left the door open so that the room wasn't completely dark. She couldn't do that with the hotel room; obviously she wouldn't be able to leave the door open.

"K, Evian's going to share with me and that's final." Tala cut in, getting slightly annoyed by everyone.

"It's settled then. I want everyone to get comfy for a while, and I know the climate in Las Vegas is very humid and warm, but we still have to train and go according to our plans. Today I want you to relax and get some rest, and we'll start training tomorrow."

Everyone nodded in understanding before heading off to their assigned hotel rooms. Once in her hotel room, Evian immediately dropped her things on the floor and threw herself on one of the beds and lied down on her tummy, face flat. She remembered doing this a few times before, all for various reasons. But this time it was because of something new, something she wasn't accustomed to: being discriminated and hated.

She had never experienced discrimination of any form, whether it was sexism, racism, or even ageism. No one disliked her because of her gender because she was considered pretty and she had never truly come across a male that detested her.

She was never hated by a black person, a brown person, or an Asian person because she was white; this was because she was friends with all kinds of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. She had black friends, brown friends, Asian friends, and white friends.

She was never loathed by elders because she was a 'crazy teenager with no respect' because she _wasn't_ a 'crazy teenager with no respect'. Sure she was able to have fun, but she showed extreme respect towards elders.

She was never _hated_. She was a likeable person. Not everyone had that quality, likeability. Even Tala didn't have that value. He had just as many enemies as he had friends. But for her it was different, she never truly had an enemy, and even when she did, it didn't last very long, because eventually she and her 'enemy' became friends at one point or another.

But for some reason, no matter how hard she tried to be nice and make friends with Hilary, it didn't work. But Hilary wasn't the only person on the team that had an extreme dislike towards Evian, and that's what made things worse. People like Mariah and Kai who were initially nice to Evian were the opposite now. Even a well-mannered and carefree person like Ray didn't like her too much.

And the only question that kept drifting back was _why_? She hadn't done anything. She was taught to treat others the way she wished to be treated, and she did that. It always worked like a charm, until now. She had finally stumbled across an obstacle. She felt caught in a spider web. And she didn't like it.

She continued crying, sobbing into the pillow. But it wasn't the silent type of crying, it was the noisy kind.

She wasn't depressed.

She was frustrated.

"You know what? You need to stop being a fucking baby." Tala started, dumping all his stuff onto the floor. "You need to stop crying over stupid things. You're old enough to know what's worth crying over and what's not."

That didn't seem to stop her, in fact, it made it worse. The last thing she needed now was for him to bitch at her about things he didn't understand.

"Seriously," He rolled his eyes, "Ever since you've joined this team, you've been crying. And it's so predictable. It's okay to be sensitive, but not _this_ sensitive. Get a grip, Evian. This is really fucked. All you've been doing is complaining about this team, complaining about the people on this team, running off like a fucking idiot and getting lost, crying over unimportant things, and just being plain annoying." He felt a pillow whiz across the air and fly over his head, "Yo! Don't throw shit at me, Evian! I'm serious!"

"Then shut up!" She demanded, sitting up on her bed.

"I'll shut up when _you_ shut up." He said, tossing the pillow back on her bed. "Look, all I'm saying is," He paused and eyed the ground absentmindedly before looking at her, "Crying over Hilary isn't worth it. I know you're a bit emotionally sensitive and all, but what are you gaining by crying about something that's not worth crying over?"

"What am I _losing_?" She countered, wiping her tear-stained face.

"Your time and your dignity." He answered. "I don't know what happened over the years, but this isn't really the Evian I grew up with. Like yeah, you cried once in a while, but that was tolerable. But this is insane."

"How do you even know I'm crying because of Hilary? It could be something else. Maybe I gained half a pound or maybe I saw a spilt end in my hair today or maybe I lost my favourite lip gloss again."

"It's not."

"Well how do _you_ know?"

"Because I do, now shut up." He ordered.

The rest of the day went by somewhat rocky for the team. After getting a few hours of sleep, Kai was woken up by Hilary because apparently they 'needed to talk'. Well that was never good, especially when it was coming from your significant other. And the team was somewhat aware that the conversation between the couple didn't go very smoothly since they literally stopped speaking to each other for the rest of the day, and Kai seemed kind of ticked off at whatever Hilary had said to him.

Apart from the couples, Tala and Evian would get into small, insignificant arguments that ended quickly and didn't bother anyone. But still, the fact that they were even _getting_ into arguments so often these days, bothered Mr. MaCaffery.

Finally nightfall came, and having slept nearly the whole day, Evian didn't feel as drowsy as she was supposed to during nighttime. Nonetheless, she was still in bed, absolutely bored out of her mind. Tala had fallen asleep _hours _ago, and his snoring was making it worse for Evian to even attemptto get some sleep. But even if Tala wasn't snoring, she probably wouldn't get any sleep even if she tried. She wasn't accustomed to sleeping in such darkness. Tala liked to sleep in the dark, and his definition of dark was when every single light was switched off, and when all the curtains were shut, and there was absolutely _no_ form of light in the room. He couldn't sleep even with the slightest bit of light. In order for Tala to get some sleep, the room had to be blacker than black and darker than dark, if that even made any sense.

This made Evian uncomfortable. She didn't like it when the room was _this_ dark. It scared her. What if there were monsters in the closet? Or the washroom? Or…right under her bed? Frightened by her own thoughts, she pulled the covers a little more even though it was too warm for covers. It was so dark, she couldn't even see her own hand if she waved it in front of her face. She felt blind.

And she was too afraid to close her eyes. What if something happened? Like what if a gruesome looking monster _did_ appear and eat her up or something? _Oh c'mon, Evian. Those don't even happen in movies. Just close your eyes, relax, and try to sleep._

Upset by the lack of sleep and lack of light, she pushed the covers off her and sat up in bed. With her left hand, she reached for the lamp and switched it on, lighting up the hotel room. She moved strands of hair out of her face and looked around the room. Unlike her brother, her clothes were already creating a big mess in the room. She scratched the back of her head and looked at the clock that was hung up on the wall. It was nearly two in the morning.

She retreated from the bed and went to her belongings, searching for a spare pack of cigarettes and a lighter. As she moved her hands around her luggage, she felt something granule at the bottom, underneath all the clothing. She scrunched up her face as she pinched some of the sandy particle and examined it. She discovered pink dust, the same kind she had seen in Arizona. She blew the dust off her palm. _Someone's playing a sick joke on you, Evian. It's probably Hilary or Kai or something._

After hunting down what she was looking for, she left the hotel room to have her treat.

**x x x **

"- and then she was telling me I shouldn't side with anyone else; she was _telling_ me, not _asking_ me, so then I got pissed off and then she got pissed off, and then I was like 'fine, whatever', and I think that pissed her off even more or something because she wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the day." Kai paused to listen to what his mom had to say to him about his 'girl-trouble'. "Why should _I_ apologize? She started it."

As he listened to his mom's suggestions and advice, he took a seat on the curb of the road and kicked a few pebbles that were on the ground. "So what if I'm the guy? It doesn't mean I should say sorry first." He protested, running a hand through his slate hair. "I'll say sorry if she says sorry. Yeah, I _do_ like her, I think. So? Fine. _Fine_. Okay. Yes I'm going to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow, mom. Okay, goodnight mom. I _am_ drinking enough water. Yeah…okay. I love you too. Bye, mom." Kai brought down the cell phone from his ears and flipped it closed. He sighed, exhaling out loudly.

Solving complicated math problems was doable, but trying to solve things between him and Hilary was undoable. _If she wasn't being such a bitch, then I wouldn't have a problem, obviously_.

He was getting ready to head back to the hotel and get some shuteye when he noticed something – some_one_ – whiz past him, jaywalk across the traffic-less street, and sit on the curb on the other side. He furrowed his eyebrows in dismay once he realized it was Evian, who probably hadn't noticed him yet, or just avoided him on purpose.

She sat on the other side of the empty street, dressed in a white satin nightgown that ended an inch or two below her knees, revealing her glossy-looking legs. The upper part of the gown was made of tank straps and a low neckline, revealing a small amount of cleavage and the shape of her big breasts. Her pin-straight, lustrous corn blonde hair was the same as always, ending just at her collarbone.

Her blonde hair with the silk white nightdress, her pretty, smooth-looking skin along with her appealing face, and the light from the streetlamp which provided her with radiance, could have given someone the impression that she was some kind of heavenly or godly figure. At least that was the impression Kai received.

But that angel-like illusion was killed as soon as she lit up a cigarette and put it in her mouth. Kai scrunched up his face, not necessarily enjoying what he was seeing now. He liked it better when she looked like a virgin.

_It's two in the morning,_ he thought, _what the hell is she doing out here?_ He got to his feet, and instead of heading back to the hotel like he initially planned, he paced towards the blonde.

"It's not safe to be out at this time, you know," He made his presence acknowledged by speaking. He took a seat on the curb next to her, "How come you're not in bed?" To avoid talking to him, she shrugged in response, hoping he would just get up and leave. But he didn't. Instead, there was an eerie silence as he played around with the hem of his _Coldplay_ band tee while she continued smoking, "Thought you said you were gonna quit soon." He finally spoke again.

"I will." She answered, trying to express her annoyance. She tapped the butt of the cigarette to allow the ashes to fall off. "You should go to bed."

He raised an eyebrow, "Is that you're way of telling me to fuck off?"

She gave him a momentary look before answering, "Maybe."

The answer amused Kai to full-extent. He liked playing around with her. It was fun. He laughed, indicating he was going to stay.

"Fine then," She tossed her almost-done cigarette aside, "I'm leaving." She got up to go back to the hotel.

"_Nooo_," He whined, "Stay. I'm bored." He seized her by the wrist and yanked her back on the curb she was sitting on. Evian didn't fight back only because she was too busy feeling awkward by his touch. He had never _touched_ her before. And the fact that he wanted her to stay because he was 'bored' was reasonably odd also. Once seated, she expected to be released by his grip. But that didn't happen.

"Hey," She attempted to wriggle her right wrist free from his hold, "Let go."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." She used her other hand to discharge her hand from his secure but gentle hold.

"Well that's too bad, Blondie." He pulled her closer towards him, "I get whatever I want. My mom spoiled me. And I'm French."

"I get whatever I want too," She started, still concentrating on freeing her wrist, "And I want you to let go of me."

"What if I don't?" He challenged.

It took a few seconds for her to answer, "Then I'll bite your nose off," She threatened.

He grinned, "Yes, _bite_ me." He provoked her. She smiled playfully as she really did try to bite him on the nose in a non-threatening way, kind of like how a five year old would play with their companion. Then she went back to try to break free from his grip, this time taking a lighter approach. She giggled as she tried every method she could think off to disentangle herself.

While all this was going on, Kai felt…weird. He _liked_ what was going on, he was enjoying it. He had never gotten so close to Evian before, and being able to fool around with her like this was more than just fun; it was _exciting_.

He was fully aware, even at this stage, that it was wrong to joke around with another girl in this fashion. Technically, they were flirting. And the only reason he let himself do this was because he was mad at Hilary and didn't give two shits about what she thought of him at this point.

Besides, he was having fun and it looked like Evian was having fun too. Nobody was getting hurt, physically _or_ emotionally. It wasn't like Hilary was here watching. In addition, this was something he could never do with Hilary – mess around and just enjoy life, even at two in the morning when he was exhausted and dead tired.

He suddenly flinched in pain as he felt something pinch him on the arm. He looked at Evian, who was now grinning ear-to-ear. "Ha, ha." She teased. It was funny how she could look hot and adorable at the same time. He liked it. He just wanted to…_eat_ her.

"Okay Blondie, time to go to bed before Tala finds out I let you stay up past your bedtime." He withdrew from where he was sitting and yawned.

"I don't have a bedtime." She protested. "That ended when I was like, eleven years old. Besides, it's nice out here; I'm going to stay. You can go to bed if you want."

"Yeah, and find out in the morning that there's an _Amber Alert_ because you were kidnapped." He rolled his eyes, "C'mon, it's late."

"I'm a big girl." She argued.

Being the intelligent person he was, he decided to use the same trick Tala used on her just a few days ago, "Fine then," He began strolling away from her, "But when that thing from _House of Wax_ comes after you…" He trailed off.

"Oh my god, Kai!" She stood up immediately, terrified by the mention of the thriller movie she had seen at his house, "God, don't let me see the stars then." She followed the bluenette.

"The stars? Why would someone want to look at the stars?" He made a face, resting his hands on the back of his head as he continued walking towards the hotel.

"Because they're cool, _duh_," She rolled her eyes, "And I was trying to look for the Big Dipper."

He raised an eyebrow, "You know what that is?"

"I'm not stupid, you know."

"No, I didn't know."

"Well now you do." That ended the conversation and was followed by silence once again. They entered the hotel lobby and got to the twenty-first floor and paced down the hallway to get to their hotel rooms, which were right beside each other.

"Bye," Evian waved, pushing her hotel door open just a little bit.

"Wait," He stopped her and strolled towards her, "This is going to sound really weird, but…just make sure no one on the team finds out about anything. I'm not implying anything, it's just that, Hilary's not exactly the type of person who takes things lightly, and if she even suspects anything…"

She nodded, "Okay."

"I know she and I kinda had a rough day today, but its not like we broke up or anything, and I kind of want it to stay that way."

She nodded once again, understanding and not understanding the situation at the same time. She had never been in a relationship before; hence, she had absolutely no idea what Kai was really saying.

He sighed in relief, "Thanks."

She smiled, "No problem." She set one foot into her room before being interrupted once again.

"And Blondie," He started, "This changes _nothing_ between us."

She looked at him like he was insane, "You mean we're _still _not friends?"

"Are you retarded, Blondie?"

She flipped her hair in an egotistical way on purpose, "Whatever you say, Mister Vice-Captain-Sir." She grinned, "See ya."

"Yeah, goodnight." He watched as she entered her hotel room and locked the door behind her. He unlocked the door to his own hotel room, careful not to wake up Ray in the process, and crawled into the empty bed by the windows, knowing tonight was going to be one of those nights where he was too excited to get any sleep. He knew why he felt this way, but denied any suppositions.

Evian was just some blonde girl he liked to tantalize. She was nothing but just that.

But his guts refused to believe that.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**ATTENTION: **Sort of. Evian is pronounced EVY-YEN, not EVY-_on_ as I've heard some weirdos say it (not that I'm saying you're a weirdo if you pronounced it like that, I mean…kudos to weirdos…). **Sorry for the long wait. It's just so time consuming to type in in the address bar, and then click login, and then click this and that and omfg. It wastes like, 5 seconds of my life… **

And now as promised…I will answer reviews from the last two chapters…

**Crying Sorceress – **Virgo guys are the cutest ever! Lol. I realized Tala would be a Virgo in this story after I created the date of birth for Evian, and then I'm like, shit, they're twins…haha, Tala is _so_ not a Virgo. And yes I know, the part with Kai and Evian in this chapter was slightly odd, but that's what I did when I was with this really hot guy but I don't like him now because he's a jackass and I'm too pretty for him :D And he's a Pisces. We'd never get along.

**Simply Sakura – **God, I know. Lol. I hate it when my parents talk about me and stuff. It's really annoying. And sometimes embarrassing.

**eMpTy-ShElLs – **'Across The Country Bond'…_yes_! It's really freaky. To be completely honest, when I first started talking to you, I was like, yeah whatever, this is someone from the internet…for all I know it could be a 40 year old perverted man or something. But then I started talking to you a lot, and I was like, wow, it feels good to talk to someone that can relate. I definitely agree on the across the country bond thing.

**NightPredator – **WTF! You told him you liked him and he rejected you! OMFG! You know what, maybe he has man boobies, and he's jealous because your boobs are bigger than his man boobies…

**EAMR – **Haha, yeah, once I went into a store, and I saw the hugest underwear in my life, and I was like…whoa, wtf.

**Maji_ –_**Ooohh! Yay Indians! Lol. Indian as in South Asian?

**AG329 – **I know! It's been 19 chapters and Kai and Evian haven't even _talked_ yet. I kind of screwed up in the story…you know the part where the team had to do something in order to get INTO the BBA tournament? At that time, the storyline was a little different, and then after I put in those chapters, I took a different direction. So that's what really messed things up, and that's why this story is as long as my ass crack (…well not really) and NOTHING has happened yet. I'm seriously trying to pick up the pace here, and…its working, sort of. And nooo! Tala's OC is not Evelyn! Lol. I think this chapter already gave it away.

**Lyttlechickie – **Nope, I don't watch Kenshin. I know its an anime though :S

**Feeding Ground – **Yeah I know! My brother's 12, and already he's acting like a girly bitch! It's really annoying!

**Kasanara – **Evian IS going to be with Kai. I knowwww, I'm sorry for taking too long (read AG329's comment for more info). And once I slapped by brother and I got grounded…

**Crazy Rei luva – **Indian as in South Asian! Lol.

**DemonicStormFox – **Yeah, Tala _is_ mean and gay. Haha.

**WhiteHikariWings – **Tala actually does get his ass kicked like 3 or 4 chapters later. Haha. I am so cruel.

**Merffles – **Omfg, you have no idea HOW many stories I've read when I knew I should be studying for exams! I'm such a dick-head.

**And thanks to… **

****

**Bloodstainedmoon **

**Monchan **

**Lamanth **

**BluePhoenix01 **

**Sugar911 **

**Kesata harika 09 **

**CrazygirlHaley5555 **

**Yasashii Tenshi **

**Whatevergurlx0x **

**XxMookinexX **

**Death-star-angel **

**Cybanne-Chan **

**DarkRavenOfNight **

**Yazzrich94 **

**Lady-Nikki **

Once again, this IS a Kai/Evian story (and Tala/OC, and I think you guys know who the OC is now) and I know things are going REALLY slowly. Read AG329's comment to find out why it's been a little _blah_. I'm trying to get things moving a little faster, which is why the chapters are turning out so disgustingly long. I will ASSURE you, the next chapters are GREAT – that's where the REAL stuff happens, for example:

Tala gets his ass kicked.

Evian gets her bit beast.

Evian gets attacked.

Kai gets injured really badly…

**R and R! **And send in songs for the soundtrack! **If I have the time, I'll post a rough soundtrack on my profile, so check it out.**


	22. Chapter 22

_And I don't understand why I sleep all day, and I start to complain that there's no rain… _

**DLS **_22_

It was the morning after the team's arrival to Las Vegas, and according to Mr. MaCaffery's plan, training started from today because the team got plenty of R and R yesterday. It was only eight in the morning, and breakfast started in an hour, but like always, Tala was already dressed and ready to go. Nonetheless, he was still entirely responsible for Evian. "Yo, Ev, time to wake up," He pulled the curtains open.

Annoyed by the sudden beam of light that hit her face, Evian turned the other way and pulled the covers over her head. "Later…"

"Nope," He pulled the thin covers off her, "Get up."

"No, I don't want to," She whined, burying her face into the pillow.

"Too bad."

"But I'm tired…"

"If you wake up, you won't be tired anymore. C'mon, just force yourself. If I can get up, and if everyone else on this team can wake up, then so can you." He reasoned.

She made a crying noise as she sat up in bed, "I don't like beyblading,"

"That's nice, now go get ready. I'm going to go see how the others are doing, and when I come back, I expect you to be prepared to leave for breakfast." He watched in dismay as Evian continued whining and whimpering about having to wake up so early in the morning and how she felt 'sick'. After a few minutes of bribing, Tala was able to get the blonde to physically leave the bed and get ready for the day.

He left the room to check up on the other team members like he planned to do so. Mariah and Hilary were up and still getting ready, fixing their hair, picking out some clothes, and all that kind of stuff. For the next few minutes, Tala crashed in the guys' place.

"So she didn't say anything about me?" Kai asked, pulling a shirt over his head. He was referring to Hilary. "An apology maybe?"

"If you want her that bad, why don't _you_ apologize first? Besides, I don't really know what happened between you guys yesterday, so I'm not picking any sides." Tala said, taking a seat on one of the beds; he took a wild guess it was Kai's since it was still unmade, and it was probably going to stay that way for the rest of the day.

"Nothing happened," He reassured, "Just an argument, you know, the kind where she thinks she's right and I think I'm right and no one wants to say sorry and give in."

Ray switched on the small television set, "I'm sure she'll apologize when she feels like it."

"That's like…never." Kai rolled his eyes. After watching the BBA News, which was completely pointless today since it was talking about the kiddie teams, the guys made their way to the hotel lobby to meet with the rest of the team. Mr. MaCaffery decided to take the team out for breakfast at a nearby café because eating at the hotel was getting a bit tedious; they didn't have time to wait for the waiter to take their orders.

It took everyone just a few seconds to pick out what they wanted for breakfast. But Evian was a whole different story. Confused, she looked at her father, "I don't know what I want…"

"How about a carrot muffin and chocolate milk, honey?" Mr. MaCaffery suggested, waiting in line with his daughter, while the rest of the team had already found a table to sit and eat at.

"I don't like carrot muffins." She made a face.

"Yogurt then?"

"I can't have yogurt and milk together. That's super gross."

"Hmm," Mr. MaCaffery tried to think of another combination, "You have to pick _something_ Evian, and quickly. We're running out of time. We have to start training soon."

"I'm trying," She continued to look at the different kinds of breakfast foods that the café served. All the diverse foods made it difficult for her to pick something and move on like the rest of the team. She had an urge to have something chocolaty, but Mr. MaCaffery wouldn't let her have chocolate so early in the morning. He was fine with chocolate milk, but he didn't want Tala and Evian – or the rest of the team for that matter – to have a brownie or something of the like. The café didn't serve any fresh, raw fruit for her to have. She sighed, "Okay, I'll have chocolate milk and…a cinnamon roll?"

"Are you sure?" Mr. MaCaffery questioned his daughter as he took out his wallet and picked out a five dollar bill.

"Mmhmm," She nodded. After getting what she wanted, she made her way over to the two occupied tables: one was inhabited by Tala, Kai, and Ray, and the other one was taken by Mariah and Hilary. Obviously Hilary and Kai were sitting at different tables since they were still upset at each other.

"About time you showed up, Blondie." Tala commented as the blonde took a seat beside him on the empty chair.

"They had so many things," She started, opening her small carton of chocolate milk and inserting a straw, "I didn't know what to pick."

"The hotel we're staying at has no training room," Ray started, finishing up his coffee, "So where are we going to train?"

"Outside." The team captain answered.

"Are you serious? It's like a zillion degrees outside; we're going to melt."

"That's not even remotely possible, Evian, jeez." Tala rolled his eyes, "Quit being such a drama queen."

"Yeah, but I'm a _cute_ drama queen!" She grinned, taking a bite out of her cinnamon roll. The three boys at the table snickered at her statement, even though it was true; she _was_ cute.

Kai looked at the blonde that sat across from him, on the same table, absentmindedly. She wore a fitting forest green t-shirt with _He Loves Me_ written on the front in a light yellow colour, and _He Loves Me Not_ written on the back in baby pink. Nonetheless, the forest green t-shirt brought out her eyes and contrasted on her fair hair and made her look extra irresistible.

And her boobs…god, they were _huge_. Call him a pervert, but he couldn't seem to take his auburn orbs off her chest.

"_Ahem_,"

Woopsie. Caught by the brother. That wasn't supposed to happen.

"See something you like, Kai?" Tala asked, slouching into his seat and crossing his arms.

"I should ask _you_ that question," The vice-captain smirked, "Don't think I didn't notice you looking at me for the past ten minutes or so."

"Oh _yeah_ Kai, that's exactly what I've been doing for the last minutes of my life," The redhead said, "You're very alluring. All we need now is a pair of handcuffs and some whipping cream." He winked.

"You guys are super nasty," Evian scrunched up her face and attempted to finish the remainder of her breakfast.

"You're brother's the one coming on to me, Blondie." Kai made an excuse.

"He's the one who wants to fuck me like a gorilla." Tala commented.

Ray and Evian exchanged disturbed glances and tried to tune out the rest of the dirty conversation that took place between the captain and vice-captain. After a while, the team left the café to and Mr. MaCaffery took the team to a large field, right under the sun.

"Now that you've done your warm-ups, get with your partners, and I'll be assisting those who need my help." Mr. MaCaffery said.

Kai and Hilary hesitated to get together with each other for training. They didn't exactly talk to each other though. It was kind of awkward. Nonetheless, the rest of the team ignored the drama between the couple and continued with their training.

"You're doing good, keep going," Tala encouraged the blonde.

"_No_ I'm not," She looked at the wobbly beyblade in dismay. "Yours isn't doing that." She referred to the wobbliness.

"If you have a strong launch, then it won't happen. Do it again."

"I _can't_ do it."

Tala shrugged, "Fine then. I guess Kai was right about you." He sighed.

"Excuse _me_?" She asked, staring at him questioningly.

"Nothing," Tala said.

"No! Tell me what he said!" She whined.

"Don't worry about it." He reassured. "Just keep blading."

"I want to know what Kai said about me!" She demanded. "Tell me!"

"Hmm, I don't know…" Tala resisted the urge to burst into a fit of laughter. Evian was too easy. He tried his best to keep his composure.

"C'mon, tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone!"

"Okay, fine," He paused for a few seconds. Suddenly he shook his head, "No…I can't. He trusted me; he told me not to tell you."

"No! Tell me! Please, please, please, please, please! C'mon! Tell me!"

"Fine, but you better keep your mouth shut, Blondie," Tala crossed his arms, "I'm only telling you because you're my sister and I love you _this _much," He spread out his arms to show her what he meant by 'this' much, "Kai said that you're the weakest link and you don't deserve a spot on this team."

She looked awfully upset and for a second, Tala thought she was going to cry, but her hormones suddenly altered the course of action.

"_No_," She shook her head, sparing a hateful glance at the vice-captain, "I am _not_ the weakest link on this team. I'm _not_. I can do what he can do. I know I can. You know Tala, if I ever get a bit beast one day, I'm going to beat Kai. I _will_ beat him. You know why? Because he sucks and he's a man-whore."

"A man-whore? What the fuck is a man-whore?"

"_Kai_ is a man-whore. I can beyblade. I _can_. I'm going to battle him the day I get a bit beast."

"What if you don't get a bit beast?" He asked.

"I _will _get one, even if that means I have to steal one."

"Don't say that, Evian. Stealing someone's bit beast is the _worst_ thing any beyblader can do." He explained. He felt sorry for her. She was so optimistic. What if she _never _got a bit beast? She'd be crushed. And the chances of her getting a bit beast were slim to none. _She's not strong enough for a bit beast. And she certainly isn't ready. She's only been blading for what – a month max? I had to wait three years for Wolborg._ "Stealing is stealing, even when it comes to bit beasts. And besides, you have to _wait _for a bit beast. It will come to you if it -"

"If it likes me, I know." She said, "But what if bit beasts don't like me? I mean, everyone on this team hates me; what are the chances that a bit beast will like me?"

"Look, I know you're a very polite person and you respect everyone else, but you have to understand that not _everyone_ is going to like you, even if there's no reason." He said, "It's like, for every person that likes you, there will be at least ten that hate you. Or maybe it's the other way around for you because most people tend to like you."

She didn't look convinced. She picked up her beyblade and positioned it on her launcher, "Teach me how to launch a beyblade properly so I can shove it up his ass." She referred to Kai.

Tala grinned. _She's so aggressive, god._

"What are you waiting for, moron?" She furrowed her eyebrows, "Teach me!"

"Have _patience_, Blondie."

"I don't care what people think. I don't care if I don't have a bit beast. I'm going to _win_ our Las Vegas match."

"No need to go overboard, Evian."

"You don't believe me? I _will_ win in Las Vegas. I will, I will, I will! I don't even _think_ I will win, I _know_ I'll win, even if everyone else on this team loses the other rounds. I'm _not_ going home without winning at least one match."

"Overconfidence isn't necessarily a good thing, trust me."

With her beyblade and launcher in her hand, she eyed the redhead fixedly, "Tala, I _will_ win in Las Vegas."

**x x x **

"K, do you know what your card is?" Tala raised an eyebrow with a deck of cards in his hands. He watched as Evian grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, don't forget it," He divided the deck of cards in half, "Put it here." She did as she was told. She watched as her brother shuffled the cards a few times and then pulled one out, "This it?" He held out the eight of diamonds.

"Yeah," She answered, "Teach me that. I wanna do that."

He placed the cards on the table and smirked, "It's magic, Evian. You can't teach someone magic."

"Teach me!" She playfully whacked him on the arm. It was about thirty minutes after dinner. While the rest of the team had left the dinner table to call it a day and get some sleep or do whatever, the siblings remained at the hotel's eatery and played with cards. The dining hall wasn't as full as it was about an hour ago, but some people were still enjoying their dinner.

"Okay, no need to get violent, missy," He said. "K, first you shuffle the cards, just to make the card-picker-upper – if that's a word – to believe that this really _is_ a magic trick."

"Okay."

"Make them pick out a card and -" His explanation was interrupted by Britney Spears' _Slave 4 U_. It sounded like a cell phone ring tone, and from the looks of it, it was coming from his cell phone. He noticed Evian attempt to hold back her laughter. A few people in the hotel's canteen looked their way. "You're _dead_, Evian." He quickly fished out his cell phone, "I'm going to kill you in your sleep." He added before answering it. "Hello?" There was a pause, and his annoyance was replaced by excitement.

"Who is it?" Evian asked, whispering. She wanted him to end the call quickly; she wanted to learn that magic trick he did with the cards. The redhead turned to her and mouthed something that seemed like '_Dakota_'. Suddenly, he got up, patted the blonde on the head, and left the table. She sighed and picked up the deck of cards. In an attempt to shuffle them, some of the cards fell out of her small hands and landed on the floor, much to her aggravation. She hated cleaning. Picking up cards from the floor was a form of cleaning. Nonetheless, she couldn't just leave them here; it wasn't like this was her house where her mom, dad, or brother would clean up after her. This was a hotel.

She retreated from the chair and squat down and picked up each card that had fallen.

"Need help?"

Evian looked up. Kai wasn't exactly the person she wanted to see today – or any other day for that matter. He said things about her to Tala. He was a man-whore. She didn't associate with man-whores. "_No_ thank-you." She said.

"You might want to stand up." He said.

She rolled her eyes. She thought Kai was a genius, not a bum. How was she supposed to pick up cards that were on the floor if she was standing up? She didn't possess 'magical' powers like Tala.

"I'm serious." He added.

She ignored him. The only reason she couldn't tackle him to the ground and hit him on the head with her purse was because her brother told her she couldn't tell Kai that he told her about what he said. Oh, and the other reason that stopped her from doing so was the security guards.

"Fine then," He said, taking a seat where Tala was sitting earlier before Dakota had given him a call. Evian wondered what was going on between them anyway. "If you want the whole world to see your pink _Mickey Mouse_ panties…"

Suddenly, everything that Kai had said registered through her blonde hair and into her brain. Her first reaction was her cheeks heating up and turning a bright red. She looked down, and sure enough, she had been sitting in such a way to pick up the cards, that her underwear had been showing. She whimpered, quickly standing up and flattening out her skirt.

"Shouldn't have told you," He leaned back in his chair, "I was kind of enjoying that."

She gasped, "You know, I'm going to tell Tala."

"What are you going to tell him? 'Tala, Kai was looking at my panties, like oh my god'," He mimicked her potential reaction using a high pitched girly voice.

"_No_," She denied, even though that's what she _was_ planning to say, "I'm going to tell him you were being a pervert."

"What if he asks how you _how_ I was being a pervert?" He questioned, playing with the cards that were on the table.

"Then I'll tell him you touched me." She grabbed her original seat on the chair.

"And what if he wants to know where I touched you?"

"I'm going to tell him you touched my boobs."

"So you're actually going to go up to your _brother_ and say 'Tala! Oh my god! Kai touched my boobies! Oh, the horror!'" The bluenette, in an attempt to add some drama to his impersonation of Evian, put his hands on his own chest, implying that they were breasts.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to tell him," She nodded, grabbing the cards out of his hands.

"Then let me touch them first."

"_What_?" She looked at him in utter disbelief. Was he being _serious_? He _looked_ serious. But a person – a _guy_ – couldn't possibly be serious about something like that…unless they were seriously retarded or something.

"What? If you're going to tell him I'm a pervert, I might as well touch them and give you a breast massage." He reasoned.

She made a face, "You're sick." She wondered why he suddenly came out of nowhere and started talking to her anyway. It seemed as if he only talked like _this_ when he had her alone, like right now, and like last night. Speaking of last night, she enjoyed last night, but now was different. If Tala didn't tell her about what Kai said, then maybe Evian would enjoy this too because in all honesty, she sort of liked 'joking' around with him. "Maybe that's why Hilary's not talking to you either."

As if on cue, the said brunette appeared out of _nowhere_ and situated herself on Kai's lap. That's when the 'chest-touching' and 'hair-twirling-in-fingers' started. "Baby, I'm sorry." She apologized.

"_You're_ sorry?" Kai questioned in surprise.

She nodded, "Mmhmm," She kissed him on the cheek, "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," He answered.

"Really?" She leaned closer towards him, their faces just _millimeters_ away from each other.

"Yeah…"

"I love you, you know that, right?" Instead of waiting for an answer, the brunette pressed – well to Evian, it was more like crushed, or squashed, or something… - her lips down on the slate-haired teen. A few people in the dining hall gave the couple, and Evian, awkward looks.

"People are _looking_," Evian said. The only response she got was moaning noises. She scrunched up her face, resisting the urge to vomit since the romantic act was taking place just inches away from her, "Yes, goodnight to you too." She got up and left the table in absolute revulsion; the last thing she needed to see before going to bed was Hilary and Kai swapping saliva.

She made her way upstairs to her hotel room. She wasn't surprised to realize that Tala wasn't there. He was probably still talking to Dakota, disregarding his impending cell phone bills. _Well that's a good thing_. She thought as she carefully slipped out one cigarette from the packet. Before she could pull out the lighter however, the door to her hotel room burst open, and in reflex, she dropped the cigarette.

"Oh, you're here already?" Tala asked, cell phone still in hands. He approached Evian, and she quickly stepped on the cigarette, hiding it from view. He looked at her weirdly, "Do I _want_ to know? Anyways, here, Dakota wants to talk to you."

"Oh," Still cautious about the cigarette that was on the floor – and her looming doom, incase Tala found out – she grabbed the phone, "Hello? Oh, hi." She grinned. "I'm good. Vegas is awesome. Yup. Oh my god, I totally lost my pink nail polish. Uh-huh, and honestly, that was like the best shade of pink I had. Yeah! I know! I hate traveling so much, because I _know_ I'm going to lose like, half of everything I brought with me." She paused, and grinned, giving the redhead a momentary look, "Of _course_ I won't lose Tala, Dakota. He's like my main accessory."

"Hey! I'm _not_ an accessory, Evian." He gave her a dirty look.

"Quiet, you." She ordered. After a few seconds, she smirked and ruffled his hair. Her phone conversation with Dakota seemed to go on for eternity, and from the looks of it, it appeared that Evian liked Dakota very much. Not once did she make a strange face or roll her eyes at something Dakota had said. That was a good sign for Tala, because usually, the girls he had a relationship with previously, never got along with Evian, or vice versa.

**Flashback **

It was the Christmas holidays and Evian had nothing better to do than watch baby holiday shows on television. Her parents had gone to work, leaving her and Tala home alone until dinner time.

"Are you planning to change the channel any time soon?" Tala questioned. "This is gay."

"It's not," She argued, "See how cute that is? Aw. I hope Santa gets my letter this year."

Tala gave her a pathetic look, "You're fifteen…"

"So?" She rolled her eyes. "Just because Santa's fat and old doesn't mean he doesn't exist."

"You know, I really don't think you should say something like that about someone who's about to give you presents," He advised. Suddenly, the phone rang. "Got it!" He yelled.

"No, _I_ got it!"

"No, give the phone to me, Evian! It's probably for meanyway becauseDesiree was supposed to call!And get off my fucking leg!" He whipped the cushion at her.

"Stop!" She yelled, crawling over the sofa, reaching for the ringing phone. She grinned in victory, "Hello?" She asked, smiling. Within seconds, her smile turned into a frown. "No, he's not home. I don't know where he went, he's _your_ boyfriend. So? Just because he's my brother, it doesn't mean I know where he went. Of course I can't read his mind, are you dumb? That's your problem. So? Maybe he doesn't wanna talk to you because you're ugly. No, _you're_ a bitch. Yeah? I dare you to say that to my face. Shut up, hoe-bag! Whatever! Yeah, _whatever_! Kiss my white ass!"

**End of Flashback **

Tala looked horrified at the reminiscence. Yup, he definitely didn't want something like _that_ to happen again. He _liked_ Dakota…as in he _really_ liked her. He turned his attention back to the phone conversation. They seemed to be getting along fine. In fact, Evian treated Dakota as if she was Miriam or Evelyn.

"Yeah, me too! I'm so glad you called. Mmhmm, of course we'll keep in touch, biatch," The blonde grinned, "Okay, bye-bye!" She hung up, finally. "Here," She gave the phone back to her brother, "Dakota says sweet dreams."

"Oh there's going to be some pretty sweet dreams tonight,"

"I _don't_ want to know." She yawned. She looked kind of tired. "So what did you guys talk about?"

"Why do you care?"

She shrugged, "This kind of stuff is interesting."

"Do you like her?" He asked.

"Dakota's my new bitch, what do you think?" She spoke with teasing attitude. "So what _did_ you guys talk about? Why'd she call?"

"Don't your friends call you?"

"Yeah, but she's not exactly your friend…" Evian tried to make sense, "You guys are more like, I don't know, 'flirt-buddies'."

"Whatever, Evian," He kicked off his shoes, "I'm going to bed."

"No!" She fussed, "I want to know what you guys talked about! C'mon! It can't be _that_ personal. It's not like you guys had phone-sex…I _hope_ you guys didn't have phone sex, because if you did, then forget Dakota, because girls do _not_ like it when guys -"

"Would you quit jumping to conclusions? Jeez. She called, asked me how I was doing, and I asked her how she was doing, and then we kind of joked around and stuff, and then I was looking for you because she wanted to talk to you, but you weren't exactly downstairs."

"Obviously not," She rolled her eyes, "Would _you_ want to see Hilary literally sucking off our vice-captain's face right after you had dinner? She scared me; she was like an octopus or a squid or something. I was sitting so close to them, I thought she was going to suck my arm off too."

"Yeah, I kinda took a picture of that; it's on my cell if you wanna see it."

She looked at the redhead with revulsion, "You're such a sicko. You and Kai." She stretched her arms and yawned once more.

"Fuck man, I'm so alcohol deprived."

"Alcohol makes people fat." She stated, desperately hoping her brother would leave the room, look away, go to the washroom, or fall asleep even though he was still dressed in his street clothes, so that she would get the chance to remove her foot off the precious cigarette she was crushing and hide it and pray to god she never stumbles upon a situation like that ever again.

"It doesn't make people _fat_, unless you have it like, every fucking day and you sit your ass on the couch all day long and don't move around and shit. I only have it like, once a month, and even then, I don't have too much."

"Once a month? Yeah _right_. And what do you mean you don't have too much? You can't even say my name because you're so baked."

"Sure…" He denied the accusation, "Anyways, I guess the team's just been so busy, that we don't have any room for fun."

"I know; I mean beyblading _is_ for like serious, boring, ugly people." She stated. "Hilary is a perfect example of serious, boring, and ugly. And Kai is the ideal example of a male hooker."

**x x x **

For the next while, roughly two days, and another three days to spare before their Las Vegas match, training went flawlessly…almost flawlessly. Even though Evian's psychological hunger and strive to be the 'best' kicked everything up a few notches in terms of team spirit, training, and the rest, there were moments when she acted like a complete baby and relinquished.

But that was okay. Tala didn't mind, and neither did Mr. MaCaffery – as long as she trained and improved, that's all that mattered because they only had one more chance to prove themselves in the tournament, otherwise they would have to pack up and go home.

It was roughly twenty minutes into their second training session, the one before dinner, when Evian complained about a headache.

With one look at his sister, Tala was able to make a judgment, "You're faking."

"I _am_ not." She placed a hand on her forehead. "I feel like I'm going to throw up."

"Seriously, now."

"Yeah, seriously." She stated in a matter-of-factly kind of way. Headaches were very rare for Evian; she got them at least once in five months or so, and that was a bad thing because these rare ones were the real deal; they _killed_. "I think I need to sit out for a while or something…" She said, completely out of breath. And that's what Tala found a bit odd; within the twenty minutes, she hadn't really done anything to become so tired, yet she was. There was no logical explanation for her exhaustion. "I think I'm gonna puke."

"Are you feeling dizzy, or what?"

"Not dizzy, just you know…I don't know." She shrugged it off.

"Fine," He gave in, "Look, we'll sit out for a while. I'll get you some water and a snack and if you're still not feeling too good, then I'll let you go for today, k?"

She nodded wearily. He quickly informed his father about the situation and left the large soccer field with his sister to a nearby café. She sat down at a vacant table and waited for her glass of water. She placed her elbows on the table and rested her forehead in her hands, closing her eyes and having her head down as the bright lights were worsening her headache and the feeling to vomit.

"Here," Tala came back with a glass of iceless water. She took a few sips before pushing it aside and going back to her original position.

"My head's hurting real bad," She complained. She placed her head on the table. Somehow, her sickness didn't look fake anymore. Maybe she was never faking it in the first place. "I wanna go home." She whimpered, stomping her foot lightly on the ground a few times like a child.

"Do you wanna go back to the hotel? You don't have to train anymore."

"_Nooo_, I wanna go home." She whined, sounding as if she was crying. Maybe she was crying, except there were no tears. "I feel sick. I think I'm going to throw up." She mentioned again. "I just want to go home."

"Okay, you can go home, but first let's take you back to the hotel so you can get some rest before you get worse. C'mon." He tapped her on the shoulder, cueing her to get up. She did as she was told a few seconds later, holding on to his arm, and quickly wanting to get out of such a luminous place. "Do you have any Tylenol or anything?"

"I don't carry Tylenol," She said. The hotel was only five minutes away from where the team was training, so getting there by foot was no issue. As soon as she entered her room, she paced to her bed and plopped down, pulling the thin covers over her body, disregarding the fact that she was going to bed in a fancy skirt and a nice top that was going to get all wrinkled up. "Turn them off…" She referred to the lights. "And open the windows."

"You don't want your dinner?"

"I'm tired." She snaked her arms and legs around the hug pillow. "I'm kind of hungry too."

"What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know!" She was depending on him to figure something out. She couldn't think properly at the moment, she seemed kind of impaired. She was hungry, but she was tired at the same time, and she also felt like throwing up, and her headache was getting worse and worse. She just wanted to kill herself. "Turn off the lights!" She screeched angrily.

Tala did as he was told, turning off the lights and opening one of the windows; he didn't want to get a shoe or lamp or some other solid object thrown at him by Evian. She wasn't feeling well and when she wasn't feeling well, she became violent and cranky.

"If in the morning you're still feeling sick, then dad and I are going to let you skip training tomorrow and let you sleep in."

"I'll be _fine_ in the morning. I just need some sleep."

"Your health is more important than this competition." He reasoned. "Risking your wellbeing is not worth it, and you know that."

"Kai's claustrophobic, Ray has asthma, and you're allergic to bees – that's not stopping you guys from continuing, so why should it stop me? I can handle it."

"What I said about your health being more important wasn't a critique, Evian, so don't take it as one. The rule applies to everyone. I'm not saying you _can't_ handle it, I'm just saying that if you really do feel sick, then its okay to take a break. You're taking a break now, it's not hurting you; in fact, it's helping you. And you're right, you'll probably get better in the morning, it's just a headache, and it's going to go away."

She nodded slightly, indicating she understood what he meant.

"Okay, so I'm gonna go back to the team, but I'll be back. If you get hungry and you want to eat something, and it's the middle of the night, wake me up, and I'll take you downstairs."

"Okay."

"Get some sleep, k?" He kissed her forehead and left the room, completely oblivious to the reason for his sister's sudden illness. In fact, there was more than just one reason.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**I have nothing to say. Well actually…** I'm sort of freaked out by something. I read a story on this site in the beyblade category. It was a very good story; well written, good grammar, blah, blah, blah. But the problem is…it's the _same_ as my story. And THAT isn't the freaky part – the freaky part is that the story I read was published a YEAR before mine and I only found that story about two weeks ago. Very spooky how someone can think of a storyline, and another person can think of the same storyline with the same romance pairings and siblings pairings and everything. And you know how I answer the reviewer's questions and thank everyone at the end? It's the SAME format!

Weird…and super scary.

**ANYWAY!** I went to Wonderland last weekend! Paramount Canada's Wonderland, FYI. So many hot guys, so many roller coasters (it was my first time on roller coasters…yes I know), so little time (even though we got there at noon and came home at midnight), but SO much fun! Lol. But my hair got seriously messed up on the _Cliffhanger_ ride (if you live in Toronto, and if you've been to Wonderland, you'll know what I'm talking about); god did I feel ugly.

**ALSO…**I got a job! Yes! Finally! God, you have NO idea how good it feels to finally get a job! I was like WTF! I've been looking for a job for a year! And finally a grocery store called me…and so I'm working. It's fun, but nasty (because some of the meat products leak and its soooo not funny when I have to touch them to scan them). Training was really scary; I accidentally smashed up all the groceries on the conveyer belt and the customer gave me a dirty look.

**Merffles – **You're right. I should have pointed that out. I saw a commercial on television for the 'Evian' company and I was just like 'holy shit…my reviewers are pronouncing it wrong!'. I lack common sense…

**AG329 – **Haha. Lol. I was with some guy last summer (he was my mom's best friend's sister's son…) and we were sort of joking around. He showed me this babyish magic trick and I actually fell for it. Lol. But then we had a fight over MSN on like, the second day. We hate each other.

**Crying Sorceress – **Oooh, free porn? Lol. Just kidding. Yeah, I probably should have done some 'research' on Las Vegas. And when guys are nice to their mommies, it's just so adorable! And Tala: gay? Gay as in _gay_? Or gay as in 'stupid and retarded'? And I still have to read your story!

**No Pen Name – **Haha. Lol. You know what I do? After I eat, I take a walk to burn off all the calories. This way, you won't gain any weight, and you might even lose some. A 30 to 40 minute walk – with your iPod – should do the trick! I do it ALL the time!

**XxMookinexX – **Good guess!

**The Perfect Oasis – **Actually, I'm going to graduate next year. I'm staying back an extra semester in high school. I'm so retardedddd!

**Libretto – **Actually…I didn't write my exams…

**Kasanara – **You never get grounded? Like wtf. I always get grounded and I'm almost 18!

**And thank you to… **

**Bloodstainedmoon **

**LyttleChickie **

**Tara-Chan00 **

**Sugar911 **

**Brat-always-day-and-night **

**If I Say I Love You **

**Simply Sakura **

**WhiteHikariWings **

**eMpTy-ShElLs **

**Cybanne-chan **

**Death-star-angel **

**Kesata harika 09 **

**Lessa12 **

**Ohh so predictable **

**CrazygirlHaley5555 **

**DemonicStormFox **

**Risen From Ashes **

**R and R! Send in song suggestions! **


	23. Chapter 23

_Yes, no, maybe, I don't know, can you repeat the question? _

**DLS**_ 23_

There was one more day left until their Las Vegas match, the battle that would decide whether The Skittles were staying in the tournament, or being eliminated. This also meant the team had only one day to train as much as they could and fix up any flaws.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Evian nodded.

"Are you _sure_?"

Evian looked at the redhead in annoyance and shook her head, "I said _yes_."

"I'm just asking, god."

"Well you don't have to ask me more than once. I'm not a baby, so stop treating me like one. Jesus." Evian rolled her eyes. Tala decided to back off. She had been a little irritated lately. Well it _had_ been a week; maybe she was PMS-ing. Or maybe she was just a little stressed out.

"Okay, break time," Mr. MaCaffery announced, indicating an hour of training had already been over. The team split off into various directions, leaving the field. Kai and Hilary strolled off to sit under a tree with their arms linked together. Ray was discussing something about the tournament with Mr. MaCaffery and Mariah went off to a café to get a drink for herself. Evian stormed off into a random direction, jaywalked across the street, and disappeared into a crowd of people. Tala wanted to follow her but something restricted him from doing so. He answered the ringing cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sexy,"

Hearing Dakota's voice was instant satisfaction. He grinned, "I need to find a name for you."

She giggled, "Are you busy?"

"No, we just got off training. It's break. Ten minutes."

"Good enough," Dakota said. "So how's everything going?"

"It's alright but Ev's been being a bitch lately."

"Yeah? Let me talk to her then." She insisted.

"She's not here, she just left." He said.

"Oh. So what's up with her?" Dakota questioned.

"I don't know. She's just being a bitch."

Dakota chuckled, "Is that the _only_ way you can describe your sister?"

"Pretty much."

"Aw, that's so mean. Evian is the sweetest girl I've ever met, honestly, she's so adorable. I love talking to her."

"But not as much as you love talking to me, right?" The redhead joked.

"Of course, Sexy!" She exclaimed, "You're thing's tomorrow, right? Good luck on that."

"Thanks." Suddenly, the simple thought about being eliminated from the tournament angered him. If he lost – if his team lost – Dakota would be unimpressed. It was surprising enough she was even talking to him. He wanted to keep in touch with her; he didn't just want to get eliminated from the tournament - something he dreamed about for a very long time – and go back to Toronto to continue with his normal life. "So…what are you doing right now?"

"Kinda bored. Well actually I _was_ bored, so then I was like 'hmm, maybe I should call Tala'. So what are _you_ doing right now?"

"Talking to this really hot girl."

"Oooh, I wonder who that is."

"Yeah," Tala smirked, "I wonder who it is too." While on the phone, he noticed Evian coming back, crossing the street again, making her way towards the field. She looked a bit more relaxed. Maybe all she needed to do was take a break and walk around for a while.

Evian smiled, "Dakota?" She asked.

Tala nodded, "Wanna talk to her?"

"Yup," Evian looked thrilled. He handed the phone to Evian. "Hello? Hey! Oh my god, I was _so_ bored, seriously, like, so, so, so, so, _so_ bored."

As Evian conversed with Dakota, Tala realized that once again there was the smell of cigarettes surrounding her. _Maybe she passed by a bunch of smoking dickwads or something._

"I'm fine, yeah." Evian nodded as she spoke, "How come _everyone_ asks me if I'm eating properly? I am _not_ a toothpick. I think I'm just tired. I'm getting sick of traveling around so much. I hate staying at all these hotels. I miss my own room. Yeah, I know. I like traveling, but it's just that, I don't consider this traveling. We're basically getting off the plane, checking into a hotel, getting a minimum amount of sleep, and then it's off to training. We're not really, you know, _traveling_. I get to go to the mall once in a while, but whatever. It sucks. Mmhmm, I know."

So maybe that's what was bothering her. Maybe she was becoming a little homesick. Or maybe she was under constant pressure which came from him, their father, the rest of the team, and of course, Evian herself. She was known to set extremely high standards for herself, even if they were impossible to reach.

"Hey look, I think I have to go, we're going back to training in like, two minutes." Evian said, preparing to hang up. "Okay, yeah. I'll call you after training or something. Yeah, you too. Bye." She flipped the phone closed and passed the phone back to the redhead.

"You could have just told me you were tired," Tala said.

"I'm not tired." She denied.

"You _just_ told Dakota you were tired. Quit contradicting yourself."

"Contra-what-ing myself?" She scrunched up her face. "Don't even tell me what that means, I'll forget anyway." She exhaled out loudly and plopped down on the grass and looked up at the cloudless, sunny sky. "I'm a little tired." She confessed.

"If you're feeling _really_ tired, then you don't have to train anymore if you don't want to."

"I _want_ to. I have to win tomorrow's match, remember? I'm going to win."

"What if you don't win?" He asked, challenging her optimism.

"I _will_ win." She said, picking herself up. Training commenced when everyone re-gathered for the second hour. After that, everyone separated once again to their liking. Kai went back to the hotel saying he was fatigued and wanted to get some sleep. Ray, Hilary, and Mariah headed off to the mall. Mr. MaCaffery pulled Tala aside, saying he needed to talk to his son about something 'important'.

This left Evian on her own. Although she was reasonably tired, she wanted to stay outside. It was a nice day today, and she didn't want to miss out. She walks passed the field and found herself before a forested area. Of course, being the paranoid person she was, she planned to turn back and _not_ go into the forest. Who knew what was in there? Rapists could be waiting in the dense forest for young girls just like her.

Nonetheless, her plan to leave the area came to an end when she noticed a slight trail of pink dust. It glittered in the sun. She bent down and touched the substance with her fingers. She glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was around. She stood up and took a step _towards_ the forest. _It can't hurt…_ She thought, pacing into the forest. _It's the day._ She convinced herself. The forest wasn't too dark itself as sunbeams made its way through the leaves and branches.

Moments later, she stopped once she realized the trail had ended, leaving her to stand in front of a cave. That was kind of odd, a cave in the middle of a forest. And this is where her curiosity ended. Of course she wasn't going to go inside the cave, she wasn't crazy. She didn't know what was in there. It was silly enough to follow that stupid trail of pink dust all the way here.

She took one look at the dark cave, but before she could turn back, she saw something. Lightning, was it? It looked like some kind of electrical surge or something. She scrunched up her face in utter confusion.

_Thud._

That sound was followed by another rumbling noise that came from inside the cave. Frightened, she took a step back, preparing to run the other way and get out of the forest.

Another rumbling noise was heard; Evian stared at the cave, not sure why she hadn't run away yet. A pair of yellow orbs appeared from within the caved. And that's what _really_ scared her.

The blonde gasped. She could hear her own heart beat; it beat faster than it ever did before and she felt her face heat up from fear. She didn't like being here anymore. She felt endangered. Regaining her composure, she turned around quickly and began speed-walking out of the forest, looking over her shoulders once or twice, jogging every once in a while. Coming into the forest was stupid. It was a mistake.

**x x x **

"So your sister is hanging out with _Brooklyn_ now?" Mr. MaCaffery placed a hand under his chin and looked at the ground in concern. "And she's met Boris?"

"Sort of…" Tala said.

"Hmm," Mr. MaCaffery sighed, "But you haven't said anything to her, right?"

Tala looked at his father as if he had ten heads, "Of _course_ not, dad. I'm not retarded."

"Good then. I expect things to stay that way." He said, "And I want you to keep her away from Brooklyn and the rest of his team, but not in an obvious way, or else she'll start to think things. Evian isn't stupid, you know that. If she's curious enough, she'll find out and get herself into a heap of trouble."

Tala nodded in understanding.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" Mr. MaCaffery questioned.

"The fact that I'm scared for my life, yeah." The redhead rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." Mr. MaCaffery reassured. "Don't be a chicken, Tala. That's not how I raised you."

"Okay…" He agreed with his father. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, you can." Mr. MaCaffery gave consent, "Take care of your sister, okay?"

"Don't I always?"

"No, not always."

Tala raised an eyebrow before leaving his father's hotel room, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means it's usually the other way around, Tala."

"You think I don't take care of her enough? That's not true, you know that. I take care of her even when I'm sleeping, and it's not like I have a choice; she's like a baby. She's immature and she doesn't know what she's doing half the time. She's always depending on me to do this for her and to do that for her. Taking care of her is like my part-time job, except I'm not getting paid."

"There's your flaw, Tala," Mr. MaCaffery stood up and approached his son, "It should be your full-time job, your lifelong occupation. Now I'm not telling you to baby her, because trust me, I think your mother and I have done that part already," He sighed, "I only ask for you to guide her in the right direction. You know how Evian is, she is easily distracted and she often goes off course with everything. Your mom and I can only do so much to put Evian back on the right track."

"Don't worry about it, dad."

"I have to worry about it. She's my daughter and you're my son. I worry about the both of you all the time, even when I'm at work, and when you're at school, when you're with your friends…" He trailed off, "Anyways, I want you to go relax now, okay?"

The redhead nodded before leaving the hotel room to go to his own. Once again, his cell phone began ringing. Hoping it was Dakota, he picked it up eagerly. "Hello?"

"Yo, is Evian there?"

Tala furrowed his eyebrows; he'd recognize that voice anywhere, "What do you want with my sister, _Marshall_?

"I really need to talk to her. It's important."

"You need to fuck off," The redhead cursed angrily before hanging up on his 'best friend'. Marshall didn't call again. That was a good thing because Tala didn't want to turn off his cell phone and risk missing one of Dakota's calls or something. Speaking of Dakota, he quickly sent her a text message, not about what just happened, but just a short flirty kind of message.

"Tala! Tala! Oh my god! Oh my god!"

Upon hearing his sister's voice, Tala turned around quickly. He looked at her weirdly, "Why do you have leaves in your hair?"

"What?" She combed her blonde hair with her fingers and managed to rake out a few leaves, "There's something I need to tell you. I just saw something weird. And scary; it was really scary. I ran."

"Okay…"

"It had these horrible yellow eyes. Humans don't have yellow eyes. I don't think it was human. In fact, I don't think it was something from this planet. Maybe it was an alien, you know, something from outer space." She shuddered, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my _god_. It was so scary."

"Would you calm down? Jeez. There's no such thing as _aliens_."

"How do _you_ know? No one knows if aliens exist or not. Tala, I am _really_ scared."

"Someone's just fucking around, you know, trying to have some fun. Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

"_No_, I saw it! Seriously, I am actually scared. What if it tries to kill me or something? What if it's that _man_? Remember the one that almost killed me? I honestly don't feel safe anymore. I'm really scared. I don't think I have the guts to go anywhere anymore alone."

"Maybe you're just hallucinating. It happens when girls like you don't eat properly." He poked her in the ribs.

"I was _not_ hallucinating!" She pushed his hand away, "I really did see it! I can show you! C'mon!" She grabbed his arm, "Lets go! Then you'll see!"

"Hold on a minute, god." He said, checking something on his cell phone. Evian presumed it was a text message. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was from. As he read the message, Tala grinned. Finally, he turned to Evian, "Look, I'm kind of busy right now."

"You're busy?"

"Yeah…and I'm tired." He shrugged. He yawned, "But if you still wanna go…"

"No, its okay! I want you to take a nap or something so that you're not tired tomorrow for our battle." She smiled, "I'm going to make dad take me to a mall."

"Thanks," He said. "Wake me up for dinner." He unlocked his hotel door and went inside. He waited until he heard Evian's footsteps leave the area. He exhaled out loudly and looked at the message he received just a few minutes ago: _u can vizit south dakota wen we get mareed :p_

It didn't take Tala long to figure out what she meant by 'South' Dakota. The girl was a major flirt. But that was okay. Tala enjoyed it.

**x x x **

"I just don't like her." Hilary spat.

"She's actually not a bad person," Ray said, dipping his fries into the ketchup. It had been about an hour or so since Ray, Hilary, and Mariah arrived at the mall. They didn't exactly buy anything. They just wanted to hang out and forget about beyblading for a while.

"Are you insane, Ray?" Hilary sipped on her Coke which she shared with Mariah. "She tried to steal Kai's beyblade. She's a thief. She's lucky I didn't do anything to her."

"Maybe…" Ray started, "Maybe we're missing something."

"Missing something?" Mariah inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Think about it for a second: why would she want Kai's beyblade?"

"Because she's a fucking slut." Hilary rolled her eyes.

"Seriously," Ray tried to reason, "People steal things for a reason. Evian didn't have a reason."

"How do _you_ know she didn't have a reason? You can't read her mind. Maybe she wanted to cause some havoc." Hilary said.

"She doesn't seem like the type of person that would steal something. C'mon, this is _Evian_. I know we've only known her for about two months, but does she look like a crook to you guys?"

"Do pedophiles look like pedophiles? Do murderers look like murderers?" The brunette tried to make a point. "Just because that bitch doesn't look like a thief, doesn't mean she isn't a thief. How do you know she doesn't dress like that and act like that just so people don't suspect her?"

Ray shrugged, "I'm not trying to make you change your mind about her," He said, "All I'm saying is, I think we – or maybe _I_ – was wrong about Evian. She doesn't seem like a bad person. She's a great girl. Whatever happened that day at the hospital probably happened for a reason."

"Why didn't she tell us then?" Mariah asked, placing her hands on the table they were eating at. "She knows the only reason we're avoiding her as much as possible is because of what happened at the hospital. She seems like the type of person who _wants_ friends, and obviously, she has none on this team. If there was a reason why she did what she did, then she would tell us for the sake of having some friends."

"I don't know guys," Ray shrugged, "I just think something's not right and we're giving her a hard time because we're missing the big picture."

Hilary laughed out loud, "Missing the big picture? _Please_."

"Hey, isn't that Evian?" Mariah pointed, "And…Mr. MaCaffery?"

Ray and Hilary glanced over their shoulder, and sure enough, Evian and Mr. MaCaffery were at the same mall as they were. That wasn't a surprise; this was the closest mall to the hotel they were staying at. Nonetheless, instead of 'hanging out' like Ray and the others, it seemed like Evian had done some heavy shopping, carrying two _American Eagle_ bags, and her father carried a _Banana Republic_ one since her hands were already full.

The father-sister duo didn't seem to notice the others; Evian was too busy talking about something excitedly, and Mr. MaCaffery was too busy listening to his daughter.

"Mr. MaCaffery! Over here!" Ray called, standing up from where they were sitting. He waved his hand to get their attention. Both Hilary and Mariah rolled their eyes and sighed.

"Our table is _full_ Ray," Hilary said.

"We have room for two more," Ray said, grabbing two extra chairs and bringing them to the table. Mr. MaCaffery and Evian finally approached the three.

"Having fun?" Mr. MaCaffery asked as he took a seat.

"We're just chilling," Mariah said. "We might watch a movie later on."

"Which one?" Evian asked.

"Poseidon." The pink-haired girl answered.

"Oh, I really wanted to see that one!" Evian said.

"You wanna come?" Ray asked. He could literally feel Hilary glaring holes into him. "I'll pay for your ticket. You can get away with a child ticket too; you look like a twelve year old."

The blonde grinned, "Okay. But Tala really wanted to see that one too, so I'm gonna go back and get him, and then we can watch it."

"Why don't you get Kai too? We can all watch it. How about you, Mr. MaCaffery?" Ray asked.

"I'll let you kids enjoy the movie. My feet are extremely tired," Mr. MaCaffery said, "I think I got a decade's worth of exercise, thanks to Evian."

"I'll bet you burned off 300 calories, daddy." Evian said.

**x x x **

Back at the hotel, after countless text messages, Tala decided to call Dakota and have a verbal conversation. The two had engaged in a game of 'Guess-the-colour-of-my-bra-and-underwear' game – that mostly applied for Dakota.

So far, after six guesses, Tala had gotten the colour of her underwear right. Now he had to work on her bra. "Black?"

"Nope," The tousle-haired girl giggled. "That would have been the right answer for yesterday though."

"White?"

"I don't have any white bras."

"Give me a hint then," The redhead said.

Dakota chuckled from the other end of the phone, "I can't give you a hint!"

Grinning, the redhead sighed, "Fine. Is it…green?"

"What kind of a woman wears a green bra?"

"What's wrong with a green bra?" Tala asked, lying down on the bed. "Pink then?"

"That's _one_ of the two colours."

Tala sat up in bed, "You mean there are _two_ colours?"

"Yes! It's a pretty design. It's in swirls. It's really cool. Maybe I'll show you one day, _wink, wink_," Dakota laughed. "Guess the other colour."

"Blue?"

"Wrong,"

"Yellow?"

"Close! Getting warmer! Keep guessing, Sexy."

"Uh, orange?"

"Yes!" Dakota said.

"Black underwear and a pink and orange bra – that's a good visual." Tala smirked.

"Really?"

"Mmhmm; you look hot as hell." He could hear Dakota laugh at that, "And you have a whip,"

"And maybe I'm about to do a striptease, eh?" Dakota added to Tala's wild imagination.

"I like where this is going," The redhead grinned. Suddenly, he heard the shuffle of the hotel door, "Oh shit."

"What? What happened?" Dakota asked.

"I'm gonna have to call you back," Tala said, staring at the hotel door that was unlocking. "I have to go."

"Okay, call me!"

"Yeah, bye." The redhead flipped the cell phone closed, hid it under his pillow, and proceeded into a sleeping position. He closed his eyes and tried to stay as calm as possible. He heard the door open and then close.

"Tala! Time to wake up! Get up!" That voice belonged to Evian. He heard as a bunch of things drop to the ground. He guessed they were shopping bags – a shit load of shopping bags. "Wake up!" She yelled, "Come on!"

Tala didn't react; instead he remained as still and lifeless as possible. From what his parents and sister told him, he was a heavy sleeper. He felt as Evian took a seat on the edge of the bed. "We're going to be late!" She shouted. She gave him a hard shove, "Wake up, c'mon! You've had enough sleep."

"What do you want, Ev?" He lifted his head from the pillow slightly. "I'm tired."

"We're going to watch Poseidon, the whole team. Hilary, Mariah, and Ray are waiting for us at the mall."

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, "We're going to watch that movie you wanted to watch. They're waiting for us at the mall, c'mon. Get up." She tried to pull him off the bed by his arm.

He slowly sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Now?"

She nodded, "Ray says I can get in with a child ticket." She grinned. "Because I look like I'm twelve years old, apparently."

"Are you serious? You look more like a hideous old hag,"

"I do _not_! That's so mean!" She scowled, hitting him over the head.

"I'm kidding! God!" He rubbed his forehead, "I was joking, Blondie." He kissed her on the cheek, "You're as cute as a chocolate chip muffin."

"Yay!" She clapped.

"So when are we going?" He asked, getting off the bed.

"Well you're already up; we only have to wait for Kai." She calculated. She watched as Tala grinned. "What?"

"Here are the spare keys," Tala said, throwing Evian a pair of keys, "Go wake him up," The redhead said before going into the washroom, leaving Evian with her mouth hanging open.

"Why don't _you_ wake him up?" Evian questioned, getting up and standing in front of the bathroom door.

"Because I don't feel like it."

"I'm not waking him up either then,"

"Then I guess we aren't going to the movies, Blondie."

"But I wanna watch that movie!" She whined.

"Then go wake him up,"

"_Fine_, I will, but when you need my help one day, just watch," She exited her hotel room and paced over to the next hotel room. First she knocked, and then she used the key upon seeing that no one opened the door. She entered the dim-lit room, where the only source of light was from the setting sun. She set her eyes on the sleeping figure on the bed closest to the windows. A thin bed lining over his body was used as covers. He slept on his side with his face facing her. He looked absolutely adorable. She had the desire to crawl into bed and sleep with him forever in his shirtless glory.

She shook her head quickly, ridding the thoughts she had about him. He was good looking, that's all there was too it.

She walked further into the room until she tripped over a pair of jeans. It must have been Kai's because Ray would never leave his clothes on the floor. "Stupid idiot," She mumbled, picking up the pair of jeans, quickly folding it and tossing it on Kai's bed.

She took a deep breath, thinking of how to get him up, "Kai you have to wake up now." She said bluntly and flatly. That did nothing. "We're going to the movies…"

She felt like a complete moron, standing in the middle of the hotel room, _trying_ to wake him up. What if he didn't want to go to the mall to watch a movie? What if he wanted to sleep?

"Can you wake up now?" She towered over the sleeping vice-captain. "Everyone's waiting." She exhaled out loudly, preparing to take a more drastic action. She nudged him gently, "Everyone's waiting at the mall for us."

"Hmm?"

Evian sighed in relief to get _something_ out of him. "The mall…movies…"

He mumbled something indecipherable in his sleep.

"_No_, you have to wake up now! We're going to be late! And I really want to see that movie!" She complained. "It looked so good in the commercials! And Josh Lucas is in it!"

She heard him chuckle slightly and then the unthinkable happened. Before she could even scream, he grabbed her by the arm and towed her into the bed. Before she even knew what was going on, she was lying on the bed – _his_ bed – literally being used as a hug pillow. He snaked one arm around her waist and pulled her even closer than she already was. He placed one leg over hers, stroking hers with his feet, taking in the velvetiness her legs possessed.

"Hilary, I love you,"

Evian's eye's widened. _Pinch yourself! You're dreaming! Dreaming! Slap yourself!_

She felt his lips on her forehead. "You smell nice," He laughed a little; "I want to eat you."

"I'm not Hilary!" She tried to get away from him, from the bed, from this _room_. But he had a firm hold on her entire body. She felt his lips travel down her forehead, down her nose, making their way to her lips. "Oh my _god_! EWWW!"

Horrified by what was about to happen next, she turned her head to the side. He ended up kissing her hair, "I'm Evian!"

The name definitely rung a bell and there was no doubt it was a major wake up call for Kai. Slowly, he raised his head; he gradually opened his eyes, equally scared as her.

Auburn eyes stared into olive green ones, just inches away.

Anyone watching the scene would think Kai was absolutely paralyzed, petrified at what had just taken place, terrified beyond his limits.

In that case, anyone watching the scene was wide of the mark.

Sure, he was a bit shocked at what happened, but he pushed that to the back of his mind.

But the only thing circling Kai's head was sex.

Right now, he concentrated on the human being that lay right under him.

He just wanted to strip her naked and have insane, mad-hot, passionate, animal sex with her.

Seriously.

Perfect. She looked perfect…she _was_ perfect.

She had a tempting face and she looked even prettier when she smiled because of her dimples. Her eyes were absolutely gorgeous; they were the most striking shade of green _ever_, they weren't too dark, and they weren't too light. Girls would die to have her physique, and guys would die to _want_ her because of her figure. She had that hourglass stature, kind of like a _Victoria's Secret_ model. And then there was the most sexually alluring part of her body: her boobs. They were big, and there was no doubt about that. And they were a major turn on for _any _man. Jeez, how'd he get so horny?

"Get off me!" She shrieked, "The door is unlocked! Someone might walk -"

"Ev, is Kai up yet?" She was interrupted by the creaking noise of the door opening and the unexpected appearance of her brother. Both individuals turned their head towards the door.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…" Evian continued 'oh-my-god-ing' while Kai desperately tried to think of an excuse as to why they were in bed together. Tala walking into this room was definitely not supposed to happen. In fact, those _thoughts_ and _fantasies_ probably weren't supposed to happen either. But it wasn't something he could control. Kai blamed Evian's parents for his raging hormones. _If her parents didn't have sex in the first place, she wouldn't have been born, and I wouldn't be in this situation right now._

Snapping back to reality, the slate-haired teen looked at the blonde that lay right under him, "Shhh," He warned. Before the door opened fully, he grabbed the pillow and put it over her face. "Relax, I'm not trying to kill you," He reassured when he noticed her discomfort. He pulled the bed sheet over himself and tried to hide as much 'evidence' as possible.

"Oh, you're already up?" Tala questioned, stepping into the room. "Where's Evian?"

"She's downstairs," Kai said, eyeing the redhead, "Waiting for us at the lobby."

"Oh," Tala said, "So you planning to get up or what?"

"Yeah," The slate-haired teen nodded, "As soon as you leave, unless you wanna see me nude."

Tala looked expressionless for a few seconds and then scrunched up his face in utter disgust, "Dude, I did _not_ need to know that. Fuck man, that's gross. Jesus Fucking Christ." He shook his head in revulsion, "I'm gonna go downstairs and wait with my sister. Hurry the fuck up." He left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Kai sighed in relief – that was _way_ too close for comfort. He heard Evian's muffled voice coming from under the pillow, "Oops, sorry." He apologized, removing the pillow off her face. She looked a little pissed off. Maybe it was because her hair was messed up. Or maybe it was because her eye makeup was smudged. Or maybe she was pissed off at _him_ in general.

But that didn't matter. He liked staring at her. He liked being so physically close to her.

But she didn't. "Are you planning to get _off _me anytime soon? I have to be at the lobby, _remember_? Before Tala gets there."

He grinned, "We have time."

"And before I tell Hilary." She added.

"Is that a threat?"

"Maybe."

"I dare you."

"I will."

"Go ahead."

"As soon as you get off me."

"Make me."

She rolled her eyes, "Just move."

"Why?" He questioned. He could see a slight smile creeping across her lips; he knew it, Evian could never be serious for too long. But at the same time, he could see that she was trying to be serious as well. Something wasn't right. Last time when they were just 'fooling around', she wasn't being serious at all, and she even laughed a few times. But this was a different situation; maybe she felt uncomfortable. Instead of another comeback, Kai stopped. He didn't want to get her angry. He didn't want to tick her off. He knew where to draw the line – except when it came to his horniness of course.

He tossed the bed sheet aside and sat up, dressed in only a pair of _Shrek_ boxers. He didn't realize that one of his hands was resting on her leg. Maybe she didn't realize it either; she didn't do anything about it. Kai eyed the blonde, "I'm sorry." He expressed regret, "I thought you were Hilary because I was still kind of not _awake _and…I don't know…" He shrugged, trailing off, not having anything else to say to amend the situation.

"It's okay…" She said flatly.

This was followed by the awkward silence. Kai didn't know what to do exactly. He was never really put into a situation like this, nor did he ever _think _about a situation like this. Even with such a high calculus mark and several early university acceptances, he was not prepared for _this _situation. Was he just supposed to get off the bed, put on some clothes, and leave the room? Or was she supposed to leave the room first? Were they supposed to talk? Were they supposed to act as if nothing happened? _Because nothing DID happen._ He thought. But still, he didn't know what to do.

Surprisingly enough, Evian made the first move. She exhaled out loudly and heaved herself into a sitting position, finally noticing his hand on her thigh; she moved it away quickly, and sat cross-legged.

"Whatever happened in this room," She started, her chin resting in her palms and she looked at nothing in particular. "Should _stay _in this room. It was an accident. Accidents happen. I don't necessarily care if Tala finds out, but if Hilary finds out…it can create a big mess. I don't want to get involved in anything especially since I didn't have any kind of intentions. I'd appreciate it if you would just ignore what happened."

"Why are you making such a big deal out of it?" Sure he was pretty impressed by her practicality, but they hadn't done anything, yet she was making a fuss about it. If he went up her shirt, then he'd understand her concern, but since nothing like that happened, there was no need to blow things out of proportion. Like she had said, it was an accident, and accidents happen.

"I'm not making a big deal out of anything," She denied.

"Are you joking? You're completely freaking out; you make it sound like we just had sex or something. I'm telling you, it's not a big deal, so stop making it into one." Like in any other case, Kai _had_ to have the last word. It was his way of winning.

"This _is_ a big deal." She made a face and looked at him like he was insane, "And I'm sorry that you don't have the decency to think it wasn't." She moved off the bed with disgust. She paced towards the door, leaving him to stare at her from the back. "Maybe it's normal for you to wake up with girls who don't mind anything, but I wasn't raised that way. I'm not like that."

Before he could even invent a response, she left the room, slamming the door shut behind her. For a few seconds, Kai just sat there on the bed, half-naked and his hair just messed up as hell, registering Evian's deep analysis on the circumstance. Not only did she have the ability to get mad at someone other than Tala and express that rage , but she also had the capability to do what most people couldn't – that was to shoot him down with a reasonable, sense-making comeback. She had the competence to make Kai – the 'genius' – feel stupid.

He retreated from the bed and picked up the folded pair of jeans on the bed, not remembering when he folded the pair of jeans. He quickly pulled them on and looked around for a t-shirt while he thought about what had just happened.

Now things were _really_ awkward between them…

**x x x **

"I'm going to win. I'm totally going to win today. I don't care if the entire team loses, but _I_ am going to win."

"Don't get your hopes up so high, Evian."

"I'm not," The blonde disagreed, "I'm just telling you what I know." At that, Tala just rolled his eyes. The Skittles were on their way to their third match – the match that would determine if they were staying or being eliminated from the BBA tournament. Obviously everyone wanted to win; everyone had trained hard for this match, _really_ hard. But Evian went a little overboard. Scratch that, she went completely overboard. Sure she had trained a lot harder than usual and she probably wanted to win more than anyone else on the team, but did she have to be so optimistic? Being confident was normal, but being so positive was a little…not so normal.

From the back of the bus, Kai watched the excited blonde. She attempted to avoid him as much as possible to reduce the uneasiness. Either that or she was just angry at Kai's 'indecency'.

"Think we'll win today?" Hilary's question broke through the vice-captain's thoughts.

"I want to win," He admitted, "But I don't know. We've already lost two matches…"

"Yeah, and the last match was supposed to be an easy one." Hilary added. She peered over the seats and shook her head, "She's so hopeful. She actually thinks she's going to win. She makes me laugh." The brunette snickered.

"What if she wins?"

"Then the world is coming to an end, Kai."

The team arrived at the stadium right on time. They had to wait around for about an hour before their match initiated. Facing off against The Skittles was a team from Little Rock, Arkansas. The team consisted of three boys and three girls, three boys and three girls that looked like stereotypical Goths. They had the oily black hair, the black make up – even the guys – the pale faces, the black clothes, all the scary piercings and a few tattoos here and there.

"_Ew_," Evian made a face, "_That's_ our competition?"

"Yeah," Ray nodded, "Talk about posers."

"Don't underestimate the other team." Tala warned. "I'm serious."

Evian scrunched up her face, "But Tala! They're so ugly!"

"Alright," Tala started, "So Kai and Hilary are up first."

"Good luck, guys," Ray added. Making their way up to the dish, both Kai and Hilary readied their blades.

"From The Skittles, we have Kai and Hilary! And from Eternal Instinct, we have Allen and Madelyn!" Four beybladers were prepared for their battle, "Today's match will decide on which team goes home, ladies and gentlemen – will it be The Skittles? Or will it be E.I.? Both teams are in the same position, so without further ado, let's get this party started!" The crowd cheered. It wasn't surprising that The Skittles owned more than half of the fan base. "Bladers are you ready? 3…2…1…let it rip!"

Hilary was the first to call out her bit beast, followed by Allen and Madelyn. Kai tried to seek out his opponent's weakness before making any kind of move.

"Aphrodite! Cupid's Arrow!" The red fairy-like creature shot an arrow at their opponent, taking down one of the bladers. Madelyn cursed as Allen continued to fight Kai.

"Think you're gonna win, Kai?" Allen mocked.

"No," The slate-haired teen grinned, "I _know_ I'm gonna win."

"Overconfident, I see," Allen smirked, "I guess your mother hasn't educated you in that department."

"And I guess _your _mom didn't educate you in the clothing department, no offence," Kai countered with a comeback, "But at least my mom taught me _one_ thing," He eyed his beyblade in the dish, and it disappeared to everyone's surprise. It reappeared after a few seconds, and then disappeared again.

"Yeah? And what's that?" Allen questioned about what Kai's mother had taught him.

"How to kick your ass." He said. "Dranzer! Attack!" In a matter of seconds, a white beyblade was thrown out of the dish, and the only two beyblades that remained spinning were a red one and a blue one.

Back on the bench, The Skittles went wild, as did the rest of the stadium, minus the members of Eternal Instinct of course.

"Boys and gals! Give it up for Kai and Hilary of The Skittles!"

Ray and Mariah were next, going against Gerard and Wendy. Unfortunately, the duo from The Skittles lost to the other team. At this point, both teams were at a tie with one win each.

Whether they would win or lose depended entirely on Tala and Evian.

"Well that's it," Hilary sighed, leaning against the bench, "We're going home tonight."

"Don't be so negative," Ray said. "Tala's one of the best bladers we've got."

"And Evian's _the_ worst beyblader we've got, Ray." Hilary countered. "It's completely unbalanced."

"Just concentrate, Evian." Tala suggested.

"No need for concentration," She settled the transparent beyblade onto her launcher, "I'm going to win this thing. I'm wearing my lucky bra today."

"Whatever you say…" He prepared himself for the final round.

"This last round is entirely reliant on these four bladers, ladies and gentlemen. Oh, this gives me the goose bumps!" Jazzman announced. "Alright bladers, this is it, 3…2…1…let it rip!"

Evian launched her beyblade as perfectly as possible. And it _was_ a perfect launch. No one could deny that – not Tala, not Kai, not even Hilary. It landed flawlessly on the dish without rebounding. The beyblade didn't wobble after five seconds of its launch like it always did, which proved that it really was an ideal launch.

"So Princess Blonde wants to beyblade, isn't that interesting Jeffery?"

"Not only that, Amanda," The other opponent smirked, "She's one _hot_ piece of ass."

"_Excuse_ me?" Evian eyed the two rivals.

"She's got some nice legs too," The one called Jeffrey added. "And check out her jugs."

Tala furrowed his eyebrows, "Unless you want my fucking foot shoved up your fucking ass, can it."

"Oh, the overprotective brother comes to the rescue." Amanda rolled her eyes.

"Exactly, so why don't you tell the Backstreet Boy wanna-be to shut the fuck up before he gets his ass whooped?" The redhead said, motioning towards Jeffrey. That seemed to throw Jeffrey off course a little and Amanda scrunched up her face at the Backstreet Boy comment. In general, the witty remark appeared to have shut them up – for good.

_I can win this. This is easy. Even my beyblade is prettier than theirs._ Evian thought. Her olive green orbs moved away from her beyblade to her brother's. An electric blue glow emitted from the chip. _It's not fair…_

"Go Wolborg!"

Evian eyed the enormous blue wolf as it followed orders from Tala. The bit beast didn't hesitate for a second; it was very obedient, much like everyone else's bit beast. How come she didn't have a bit beast? She was likeable, wasn't she? Bit beasts should have been kissing the ground she walked on because of her graciousness. In fact…Wolborg should have been _hers_, not Tala's.

She watched as the grey beyblade that belonged to her brother attacked Jeffrey's forest green one. After quite a few hits, the green beyblade began to wobble. Jeffrey continued to fight back, but his attacks were weak and useless. It was evident that his beyblade was going to stop spinning or be knocked out of the dish by Tala's beyblade.

Evian suddenly heard the _clank_ noise that a beyblade would make when it hit the ground in defeat. She felt something land by her feet. She was too scared to look. Instead, she looked at the dish. A green beyblade had stopped spinning; a black beyblade – which most likely belonged to Amanda – continued fighting the grey one that her brother owned…one beyblade was missing. Where was her beyblade? Where the transparent beyblade that was supposed to come out victorious today?

Evian heard a feminine laughter coming from her opponent. "Well that proves my theory that blondes and blades don't mix. Bye-bye, _Evian_." Amanda grinned.

"Bye-bye to you too, Amanda," Tala grinned, and seconds later, a black beyblade was tossed out of the dish. At this point, only one beyblade remained spinning in the dish.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's a miracle! The Skittles have won their third match! Unbelievable! This means they get to move on in the tournament! Everyone, give it up for Tala and Evian of The Skittles!"

A heap of photographers literally swallowed up the twins – and the rest of the team – for their miraculous victory. There were camera flashes everywhere, even as close as on the tips of their noses.

Most photographers surrounded Kai, Tala, and Evian as they seemed to be the most popular team members among fans, and taking photographs was all part of publicity and making money.

Despite all the attention she was receiving and regardless of how many people were here today, watching, Evian's eyes became watery at the sight of the transparent beyblade that lay motionless by her foot. Her lips began to quiver and her tears threatened to fall at any given time, and when they did, she buried her face into her hands and began crying like a five year old who had just been spanked on the bum by her mother.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**IMPORTANT!** Does anyone know any good hair products I can use? I'm sorry, but my hair is super important…lately it's been really dry and I'm just like wtf! It's been like this for a week and I'm getting really angry!

**Anyways…56 FAVES AND 52 ALERTS! That's super awesome! Keep those reviews coming! They make me feel great! And believe me...this is just the beginning...the story is getting SUPER interesting! **

**Crying Sorceress – **Haha. Yeah, my brother knows a lot about girls and girly stuff and he probably gets it from me. So it made sense for Tala to know a lot about girls and girly things. And Tala gets his ass kicked by something weird…

**Simply Sakura – **Yeah, one time I was waiting for the bus at the bus stop and this couple totally went at it for like, I don't know, 20 minutes, and I felt…strange.

**Lamanth – **Don't be sorry for not reviewing! Lol! Wtf!

**eMpTy-ShElLs – **Because of you, now I say 'yo home slice' all the time! My mom was like "Wtf is wrong with you?" and I was just like, uh, "nothing, home slice!" and then she got scared and left me alone…

**Majirdiu – **You HAVE to go on Cliffhanger, seriously. Omfg.

**Cybanne-chan – **Haha, well actually, I was sort of scared that people might think that I copied that story when I didn't. It's too similar. It's scary.

**Libretto – **You know, I was actually thinking about that song…

**Rand-chan – **HIII! Lol. And do you mean you weren't able to read my story for a year? Or a different one? A year? That's LONG! Lol. And you better update your story super fast! I'm impatient!

**And thank you tooooo… **

**Bloodstainedmoon **

**AG329 **

**Feeding Ground **

**Someone who didn't write their username…lol **

**The perfect oasis **

**Brat-always-day-and-night **

**If I say I love you **

**HIEI LOVERS **

**CrazygirlHaley5555 **

**Kasanara **

**NightPredator **

**LyttleChickie **

**No Pen Name **

xxxxgogunnersxxxx

**R AND R AND SEND IN SONG SUGGESTIONS YOU HUMAN BEINGS! **And tell me how to fix my hair! Omfg!


	24. Chapter 24

**FIRST! HAPPY BELATED SWEET SIXTEEN BIRTHDAY TO CRYING SORCERESS! AND HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO ME! I just turned 18 on the twelfth! Too bad I ain't a legal piece of shit yet…one more year…ONE MORE YEAR! I still feel old… **

_I took a vow that from now on I'm gonna be my own best friend. _

**DLS **_24_

Whilst having her photograph taken by countless photographers, the blonde managed to block everything out and focus on one thing and only on one thing: her beyblade. Regardless of the fact that there were millions of people watching her and her team, she couldn't stop crying. It was something she couldn't control, even though she disliked crying in front of other people, it was embarrassing. The only people she was able cry in front of was her parents and Tala; that was because they were family and she grew up with them her entire life and it was fair to say, that to an extent, they knew her inside out.

People always got the wrong message when another person shed their tears. If you cried, it meant you wanted attention or it proved that you were really very fragile and you were incapable of handling things.

Scared of what people were thinking of her at this instant, the blonde quickly fled the stadium. She didn't know where she was headed, and in all honesty, she didn't exactly care. She just wanted to run away to some place private where strangers wouldn't be able to see her tear-stained face.

Especially Hilary; Evian didn't like Hilary.

Moments later, after passing by numerous people who gave her strange looks, she was able to hunt down a washroom. Thankfully, it was empty. She filed into an empty stall and locked the latch. That's when she let herself breakdown. She could cry as much as she wanted to. She could curse as much as she wanted. She could essentially do anything she wanted to do; no one was in here watching her.

She cried somewhat noisily, wiping her tears every now and then, oblivious to the fact that she was smudging her eye makeup and lip gloss all over her face. All she wanted to do was win today's battle. _Is that a lot to ask for?_ She wasn't the least bit religious, but she still prayed before she went to bed last night, telling God she wanted to win today's battle.

Was God taking her seriously? Was _anyone_ taking her seriously?

She didn't even know how she felt. It was a combination of anger, self-hatred, hopelessness, desolation, and God knew what else. She felt like pulling her hair. She did. A few strands came out by their roots. She jumped up and down a few times in the stall and let out of a noise of frustration before kicking the stall door. She buried her face into her hands once again and continued crying out a river.

She felt so mad!

It was…God's fault! She trained as much as she could, more than Kai, more than Hilary, more than anyone else in her goddamn team!

It was unfair…it was so unfair.

She heard someone come into the washroom. She quieted down quickly, on reflex, and hastily stood on the toilet, concealing her feet from view.

"Evian?"

That sounded a lot like Tala. It was him. What, in the name of all that was good and holy, was he doing in the ladies' washroom? Evian remained as silent as possible; maybe then Tala would leave, assuming she wasn't in here.

She heard his footsteps get closer towards the stall she was hiding in. He stopped suddenly, in front of the cubicle she was in.

He knocked on the door, "Baby, I know you're in there. You wanna come out?"

Evian bit her bottom lip absentmindedly. How could he know she was in here, in this specific stall? It didn't make any sense! He couldn't possibly read her mind! That was only a myth that stupid people believed. Besides, she couldn't read his mind.

"C'mon, it's dirty in there, Evian," He paused, knocking once again, "You gonna talk to me?"

She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to talk to anybody! "Go away!" She shouted.

"Evian, c'mon, it's not the end of the world."

"Yes it is!" She cried. Oh how she wished she was a dead goldfish so that someone could flush her down the toilet. "Everyone's going to make fun of me now! I kept saying that I'd win!"

"What are you talking about, Ev? We did win."

She shook her head, "Nooo! _I_ didn't win!" She sniffled, "I said I would and I didn't! It's not fair!"

"Come out of there, Evian. Lets talk outside; I'll get you ice cream."

"I'm never coming out of here! I'm going to stay in here forever!"

"Nobody's gonna make fun of you, Ev, I promise."

Astonishingly enough, she unlatched the door and pulled it open, "I really wanted to win."

He embraced her right away, "I know," He let her rest her head on his shoulder, "But it's alright," He kissed her on the head, "Okay?"

"I'm never _ever_ beyblading ever again," She mumbled as she continued sobbing. It was one of those crying fits she had absolutely zero control over.

"It's okay. If you don't want to beyblade anymore, you don't have to." And Tala meant that – sort of. He didn't _want_ her to quit because then his team would be short by one member and that meant they'd have to dropout of the tournament. But on the other hand, he didn't like seeing Evian this upset. He wasn't used to seeing Evian like this. Seeing her upset made him feel upset, in an actual mental and emotional way. When she cried, he felt like crying; but he couldn't, not in front of her, not in front his parents, not in front of _anyone_. It would be too weird. Besides, he was a guy and guys never cried.

"It's just not fair!"

"It's okay. Just forget about the battle, alright, Ev?"

"But it's not fair," She repeated, unable to 'forget' about the battle, "You said and dad said if I practiced, I'd win."

"We didn't say you'd win, we said you'd get better. And you're doing great, Evian. You tried your best, I saw that today."

"Am I a loser then? Because I tried my best and I still lost. Does that make me a loser? What's the point of trying?" She paused, "I feel so mad! I wanna hit myself!" And with that, she pulled away from the redhead and slapped herself, "It's not fair! It isn't!" She screamed out loud and pulled her hair again before pulling out all the toilet paper from its roll and created a mess in the stall.

Although scared that she might hurt herself, Tala wasn't surprised at her erratic behaviour. This happened sometimes. It's just that no one other than him and his parents knew about any of this. Being angry was normal, everyone got mad once in a while, but not the way Evian got angry. She'd start breaking things, throwing things, hitting people, hitting herself, hurting herself…

When Evian wasn't around, Tala and Mr. and Mrs. MaCaffery would often debate whether the young blonde needed some psychiatric assistance for her impulsive fits of anger, and after a few minutes of discussing about it, they all decided against it every time. Letting her see a psychiatrist or psychologist could ruin her life; everything would be on file, and in the future, she could have trouble finding a job. In addition, they didn't want Evian to feel as if she had a problem.

"Okay, c'mon, that's enough, Evian," The redhead said, grabbing his sister around the waist and lifting her off the ground.

"No its not, it's not, its _not_! Let me go!" She said, trying to get a hold of something to make things difficult for him, but with no avail. But that didn't mean it was easy for Tala either; he literally dragged her across the bathroom and forced her on the counter, where the sinks were.

"Calm down," He held her hands behind her back to prevent her from pulling her own hair or something equally inappropriate.

"Why! Let me go, you stupid…" She trailed off, trying to kick him.

"Hey! No hitting! I'm serious!" He warned, "Stop it."

"_You_ stop it!" She shrieked, struggling to get free, "You're hurting me! Let me go!"

"You have to promise you're not going to hit yourself or do something just as retarded, okay?"

"Let me go!"

"You have to promise first, Evian."

She looked disappointed, furrowing her eyebrows, eyeing the tiled bathroom floors.

"You gotta talk to me, Evian."

"I don't wanna talk to you. I don't want to talk to anyone because people like you don't understand how it feels." For a few seconds, it looked as if she was going to be okay. Then, suddenly, without warning, more tears started rolling down her face, "Because people like you don't know!"

"People like us? What are you talking about, Evian? What don't I know?"

"You don't know how it feels when you try, and you try, and you try, and you never get there!" She cried noisily and looked downward. She felt her brother let go of her hands, and instead, he wrapped his arms around her tightly and rested his head on hers, "People like you don't know how it feels!" She shouted, bawling her eyes out onto his chest.

People like him – _smart_ people, people without flaw – didn't know how it felt to fall short. They didn't know how it felt to put hours and hours of work into an English essay and receive a failing grade. They didn't know how it felt to study endlessly and not get a satisfying calculus mark. They didn't know how it felt like to be the underdog.

They didn't know how it felt to _know_ that your parents loved your other siblings more than they loved you.

"It's like every time I wake up, I fail!" She sobbed. And that's really how she felt. Maybe that's why she chose to sleep in until two or three in the afternoon, to avoid waking up and facing the new day, to avoid every challenge she was going to come across and _not_ be able to find a way out of it.

"Hey! That's not true! Don't you ever say that about yourself ever again!" The redhead scolded.

"I am! I'm stupid!"

He forced her to look at him, "You're not stupid!"

"I don't like myself anymore," She looked towards the tiled floor.

"Listen to me, okay? You're not stupid. This competition is nothing to get upset over."

"_Obviously_ I'm going to be upset if I lose a competition. It isn't fair. And I practiced; you know I did." She rubbed her eyes.

"Just forget about it, alright? This is just a retarded beyblading tournament, its no big deal. Don't worry about it. If you can't beyblade, then that's fine. You said it yourself: beyblading is for serious, boring, ugly people, and you're none of those, okay? You're intelligent, beautiful, and girls hate you for that; there's no need to cry over something you're not meant to do."

"How come Hilary can do it?"

"Quit comparing yourself to her. C'mon, Evian. You know better than that." He rolled his eyes.

"Well she's better than me!"

"You listen to me. Whoever said that is a dick and needs a fucking kick in the ass. You're a million times better than Hilary, k? You know that. Everyone on this fucking team knows that, its just no one has the balls to say it out loud."

"She's got a bit beast…" The blonde furrowed her eyebrows in envy. She heard Tala shuffle around in his pockets for something; probably his cell phone. She heard a 'click' noise.

"Here," He placed something on the palm of her hands, "Now you have one too."

She looked at Wolborg's bit chip, "What are you _doing_? I don't want it."

"What do you mean you don't want it? I'm giving it to you. It's yours."

"It's not mine," She said.

"Keep it."

"No, I don't want your bit beast. Take it." She tried to shove it back into his hands, and when that didn't work, she tried to put it into his pockets. Unfortunately that didn't work either. "Tala! Stop! I don't want Wolborg!"

"Quit being a baby," He said, fishing his sister's beyblade out of his pockets, "You put it here," He grabbed the bit chip and snapped it into place, and once again that 'click' noise was heard, "There."

"I don't want it. Besides, it looks better on yours."

"It's yours, Blondie." He grabbed some paper towels, drenched it in water, and wiped her face, getting rid of the mess her makeup had created. He tossed the used paper towel in a trashcan, "Now let's go get you some ice cream." He picked her up.

"Just me, you, and dad?" She inquired, keeping her eyes on Wolborg's bit chip. In all honesty, it looked _very_ pretty on her beyblade. But she couldn't keep it, even if Tala was _willingly_ giving it to her. She knew that deep down inside, he didn't want to. It was his! Wolborg was more than just a plain old bit beast for Tala, and in truth, even though she did want to keep it, she wasn't going to.

"I don't know about dad," He said, carrying her out of the washroom, "He'll come if he wants to."

"Okay," She sighed, burying her face into his neck because she didn't want anyone to look at her; it would be too embarrassing. She especially didn't want to see, or be looked at, by members of her team – that would be humiliating. She'd face them when she was ready, like tomorrow, when her eyes weren't red and puffy. "Was the team talking about me when I left?"

"No," He said flatly, pressing the elevator button, "And they won't. Don't worry about what they think of you, Evian."

"I have to. Don't _you_ care about what people think of you?"

"Not really," He stepped into the elevator and gave the question a second thought, "Sometimes…" The truth was, sometimes, it was really hard _not_ to think about what others were thinking of you. Dakota was a great example for Tala in this matter. He constantly thought about what Dakota thought of him; did she like him? Did she not like him? Did she think he was good looking? Or was she just playing around with him? Did he say the right things in front of her? God, it was really nerve-racking to be around a chick as hot as her.

"Where's everyone anyway?"

"I told them to wait in the bus. I knew you wouldn't want to see anyone." He said. He felt her nod slightly. Stepping into the bus where everyone, including Mr. MaCaffery was waiting, the redhead could literally feel Evian tense up. His sister was extremely self-conscious, probably the most self-conscious person he'd ever met.

Mr. MaCaffery smiled, "How's my favourite girl doing?"

"She's okay," Tala said, taking a seat at a random spot since most of the bus was vacant. The redhead motioned for everyone else to stop staring at his other half, even though she wasn't facing them. Mr. MaCaffery told the driver to start the bus and get going. Everyone else spared a glance at the blonde every so often and exchanged glances with everyone else every time.

That was until Ray decided to cut the crap and do _something_ about the circumstance than just stare at Evian. He paced towards the twins, taking a seat at the seat in front of them. He stood on his knees and loomed over the twins.

"What do you want, man?" Tala asked.

"Here to talk to Evian."

"Well obviously she doesn't wanna talk now."

Ray ignored the redhead, "Hey, Ev, you did great today." From the back of the bus, Kai watched as Ray continued to use encouraging words towards Evian. But every word that came out of his mouth was a lie. Genuinely, Evian _didn't_ do great today, and although she claimed she'd trained a lot, she didn't. Training an hour more than the rest of the team wasn't a lot.

"They're filling her head with shit," The vice-captain chuckled, rolling his eyes. He felt Hilary rest her head on his shoulder.

"I know, baby," She added, closing her eyes, trying to get some rest, "She shouldn't even be on this team. I told everyone it was a mistake, but did anyone listen? _Nooo_."

"No, I think she's got a lot of guts and all…" Kai trailed off. What really ticked him off was the fact that Mr. MaCaffery and Tala – and probably Mrs. MaCaffery as well – were treating Evian like one of those snooty, rich preschooler girls. She got whatever she wanted, _when_ever she wanted, she cried like a baby, and even then she was always being rewarded with expensive ice cream, or expensive candy, or expensive brand name clothing, and expensive this and expensive that. She was _spoiled_ as hell!

Kai exhaled out loudly. Okay, so he was being a hypocrite and a really big one too. He was probably just as spoiled as she was. Oh, he _knew_ he was. He remembered throwing tantrums the size of volcanoes in the middle of _Toys 'R' Us _up until he was nine just because his parents wouldn't get him this toy or that bike, or that thing he saw on the TV commercial over the weekend.

And his clothes? Oh god… He couldn't remember a time when he _wasn't_ wearing brand name and designer attire. Even back when he was only two months old, he'd be wearing Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Lauren or even Dolce and Gabbana. Man did his parents spoil him to the core. Even at this very instant, he was wearing a Timberland t-shirt, a pair of jeans from FCUK, a Versace watch, and a pair of shoes from God-knows-what-designer; he didn't know, his mom bought all his clothing. Back in seventh grade, he was the only kid with a cell phone. When he was sixteen, he was the only student in his entire high school driving a Benz. He didn't even have a part-time job! His mother insisted on paying his cell phone bills! She even paid for his car insurance!

Wow. Who would've thought? He and Evian were a lot alike. It was creepy. She got what she wanted and he got what he wanted.

Suddenly, being filthy spoiled didn't feel so bad anymore…

**x x x **

Evian sighed, wrapping her arms and legs around her hug pillow. She eyed Hilary's watch on the side table that separated her bed from Hilary's. Currently, it was late at night, _very_ late at night, 3:34 AM to be precise.

She sighed a second time as she realized it was one of those nights when she wasn't going to get any sleep. It happened to her fairly often, maybe three or four times a week where she'd literally stay awake the entire night and drowsiness would only kick in at about six or seven in the morning, when it was already too late. She'd either have to get up for school, or in this case, training.

Suddenly, there was an unexpected noise; it sounded as if something hit the floor. Startled, Evian closed her eyes tightly and embraced her hug pillow securely. Seconds later, she mustered up some courage to open one eye. There was nobody there, no monsters, no robbers, no nothing. The noise seemed to come from around Hilary.

The blonde sat up in bed and quickly switched on the lamp that was sitting on the side table. She looked towards the ground, by Hilary's bed. Evian eyed the somewhat thick notebook that lay on the carpeted floor, open. There was writing in it, a lot of it, and the handwriting was very neat and legible.

Heaving herself off the twin-sized bed, Evian picked up the notebook. Absentmindedly, she started reading the blue writing on the left page:

_I had an argument with Kai today. He thinks he's always right. But he is right. And I don't want to admit it, because then I'll feel like I lost. I know he's my boyfriend and I shouldn't treat him that way, but I don't ever want him to think I'm a weak little girl who can't defend herself. Anyway, I had a feeling we were going to do it tonight, but I don't think that's going to happen. But we already had sex last weekend. It was fun. He was – _

And that's when Evian stopped reading, when she was already scarred for life _and_ her afterlife. She placed a hand over her mouth and her eyes were as wide as Saturn's rings. _OH MY GOD! EW!_ She felt so violated! Just by reading something as…as…as R-rated as _that_ made her feel all weird and squirmy inside! Yes she was being immature and she was well aware that majority of the girls and boys her age were indeed _not_ virgins and in all honesty, she didn't even know about her own brother – and personally, she wouldn't want to know about Tala – but what really grossed her out was the mental images she was having, and believe her, she was literally having an entire movie playing in her head, under all that gorgeous blonde hair. Oh for the love of God! She was never going to look at Hilary the same way! And the same went for Kai! Oh god, she was going to stay away from that guy!

It was just so strange! Like, for instance, were they _really_ naked in front of each other? And…_where_?

Evian quickly closed the notebook finally realizing what she had been reading was Hilary's diary. She couldn't believe Hilary had a diary. And she couldn't believe they had sex! It was too weird! But perhaps that was because Evian had never even _kissed_ a boy before! And all this sex business and whatnot seemed impossible – and dirty – for her. The farthest she had ever gone with a guy was sitting beside one…and that was in school. Even on the phone, she hardly ever talked to guys. Most of her friends were girls. She had very few guy friends.

Evian shuddered, the notebook still in her hands. _Did he use a condom?_ She wanted to slap herself for thinking such stupid things. It was very, very, very weird. Even the most obvious questions were floating around in her head, like did he _really_ stick his you-know-what in her you-know-where? Sure it was retarded – because OBVIOUSLY he parked his car into her garage if they got their freak on – but she was honestly thinking those things.

She finally became aware that she was still holding Hilary's diary. And that's when she felt all funny inside. She had Hilary's diary! Her _diary_! And there were pages and pages of entries dating back to who-knows-when! And there was personal information inside, _very_ personal information! Evian wanted to know more; she wanted to open up to the first page and read everything until she reached the very last entry.

She could do it right now. Nobody would know. And who knew what terrible things were written in there? This diary could be an excellent source for fresh, juicy gossip! And she could tell all those terrible things to Tala! And she could also tell Miriam and Evelyn! She could spread rumours about Hilary! She could know Hilary's deep, dark secret – if she even had one that was. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. Evian was curious. She was _very_ curious. Hilary _had_ to have a secret; why else would she keep a diary?

The blonde opened the notebook, but before she could read anything, something inside of her told her to close it, and she did. Her conscience got in the way. Well that was never fun. _Stupid conscience!_ She figured the notebook must've been hidden under Hilary's pillow. So that's where she put it, under the brunette's pillow, very, very, _very_ cautiously. She was so scared Hilary would wake up – and assume she took it out from under her pillow – that it took Evian longer than it should have to put it where it belonged. _I probably burned off 100 calories JUST by doing that._

Evian sat on the edge of her bed after that, not knowing what to do. She wasn't going to get any sleep, so there was really no point in going back to bed. Well, she could go out for a smoke. That seemed like a good idea, even though it was seriously late at night. She grabbed her lighter and a single cigarette stick and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans since what she was currently wearing was a 'piece of cloth' according to Tala. _It's not my fault I have a nice ass and I like to show it…_

She didn't understand why he made such a big deal out of the clothes she wore. So what if she showed a little bit of cleavage here and there? So what if her top was a little short and her midriff showed? And so what if her jeans were a little low and her ass crack showed once or twice when she bent down? She never said anything to Tala about wearing his pants so low, letting the rim of his boxers show. And what about when he walked around the house half-naked on weekends, wearing nothing but his boxers? Christ; that was – and still is – a nightmare for Evian.

She slipped out of her hotel room, careful not to wake Hilary or Mariah. She paced down the narrow hallway, but as she passed by the guys' hotel room, she had a sudden spine-chilling feeling, a feeling as if something wasn't right. She chose to ignore it as she continued down the hall. She took the elevator to the hotel lobby where smoking was permitted. A few others were there, mostly teenagers. She leaned against an empty wall space as she lit up her cigarette. As she exhaled out some of the smoke, the uncanny feeling lingered.

She couldn't exactly explain it. It was as if there were butterflies in her stomach. Actually it felt a little cold. Or something. She finished her cigarette quicker than she usually would have. She headed back to the sixteenth floor, where her room, the guys' room, and her father's room were located. As she once again passed by the guys' room, an eerie sensation washed over her.

She walked backwards and stood in front of their room. She just felt so _weird_. It was sort of that same feeling she had about two months back, that strange feeling in her head when she woke up from bed the day she found out flight 183 had crashed – and oh god, she didn't want to think about that plane crash anymore.

She stared at the mahogany coloured hotel door. A part of her told her something was going on inside this room, something eerie, something that involved her brother. Another part of her told her she was a dumb blonde who needed to go back to bed so she wouldn't have disgusting bags under her eyes when she woke up in the morning. She fidgeted with her hands. She didn't know what to do. If she went back to bed, she'd keep thinking about what was going on in there – if something was _even_ going on in there – and she wouldn't be able to fall asleep. On the other hand, if nothing was going on in there, she'd look like a complete idiot. She'd already made an ass out of herself today, during the battle. She didn't want to embarrass herself anymore.

Suddenly she heard a _creek_ as the door swung open just slightly, only a few millimeters. That's what made her feel sick to her stomach. Tala would _never_ be careless enough to leave his hotel door open. And besides, Ray was pretty responsible too. In addition, if Kai left the room in the middle of the night, she was sure he'd have the brains to lock the door before he left.

Something wasn't right.

Suddenly the door swung open and something jumped out at her. But before she could scream, that 'something' clamped a hand over her mouth, "Shhh!" Whoever it was, was wearing a grey oversized, zip-up hoodie with the hood over his or her head. In addition, the person wore a pair of darkly shaded sunglasses, preventing Evian from even attempting to guess who this person was. But right now, she didn't want to know who this person was, and in all honesty, she didn't care. She just wanted to get away and be safe. What if this person was harmful and dangerous? What if this person wanted to _kill_ her?

"Just please, don't…don't say anything,"

She recognized that voice.

The person took off his shades and pulled his hood down, revealing a mass of messy, curly chocolate coloured hair. He let go of her. But still, he looked very disturbed and distressed, and extremely hesitant.

"_Marshal_?" Evian was taken aback. Her eyes were as wide as ever and she didn't know what to say to him, "What are you doing here? How did you get into that room?" She examined him closely; he looked as if he was about to cry, "Are you okay?"

"I don't know. No. Look, I…" He paused, looking to his left, and then his right, clearly afraid of something, "I don't know why I'm here." He paused again, looking in both directions, making sure no one else was here, "I called him one time. I told him I wanted to talk to you. I didn't know who else to say anything to. I don't even know…" And again, he paused, extremely frightened by something, "I don't even know if it's safe to tell you."

"What are you talking about? Who did you call?"

"Tala! I called Tala! He wouldn't let me talk to you!" He grabbed his own hair and made a noise of frustration, before letting out a long sigh, "Man, I thought your brother was smart, that piece of shit." He shook his head, "Tala's a dick, Evian! Fuck, that ass needs a brain implant or something! Doesn't he get it? Doesn't he understand? I am _so_ confused man, confused as fuck!" He looked a little angry. Suddenly, he grabbed the blonde by the shoulders, "No, not here. We can't talk here. Fuck! I'm going to get in so much shit if they find out!" He dragged her towards the elevator.

"Wait! Hey! Where are we going?" Instead of answering her inquiry, he stepped into the elevator with her and exited once they were on the ground floor. He hauled her to the back of the hotel, outside, where the swimming pool was located. Surprisingly enough, a _lot_ of people were there, even at this time of night. He forced her down on an empty beach chair, and he took a seat beside her. "What the hell, Marshal?" She pushed his hands away from her. "What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem! Tala does! And that other guy, Kyle, or whatever the fuck."

"Kai?"

"Yeah," The brunette nodded, looking towards the ground, "Yeah, him." He exhaled out noisily and looked up at the starry sky, "I don't know what I'm doing here. I really don't."

"I'm super lost. I don't get it."

"What do you mean you don't get it? Oh what the fuck, you never get anything." He looked at her and realized he had offended her with his words, "Sorry, it's just that…" He trailed off, "Your dick of a brother and that Kai guy are in _serious_ trouble." He whispered, playing around with the hem of his hoodie. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. Maybe because it makes me feel better, y'know? To know that someone else knows. It's like the concept of God; you feel better because you know there's someone out there that _knows_ things."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean Tala's in trouble?" She didn't mention Kai. She didn't care about Kai. She didn't care if anything happened to him. Tala was more important.

"I don't know! I don't know, okay! I'm just saying it 'cause I know it's going to happen!"

"What's going to happen?"

"Something! I don't know!" He flailed his arms. "All I know is that, Tala's in so much shit, it's not even funny. I don't know how I got dragged into any of this. Maybe making friends with your brother was a mistake. But you know, I was idiot back in fifth grade. I didn't know Tala had so many issues. I just thought he was a cool guy, and you know, we started playing soccer and shit together. Next thing I know, I'm like his half-brother or some shit. And he _does_ feel like a brother, I guess that's why I'm risking my ass for his. I don't know. I love that guy, Ev, no, not in _that_ way, but you know. I've just known him for so long, it's hard to let go."

Evian didn't say or do anything except stare at the brunette. She was never aware he could be so emotional and so…like this. And she didn't know he cared for Tala _this_ much. She only thought they were friends, just two people who chilled together and talked to each other and went over to one another's house when they were bored. She looked at her jeans, absentmindedly, "Is something going to happen to Tala?"

"I'm not gonna lie, I mean, fuck, that's the main reason I came here, to warn you I guess," He paused, "Something's going to happen to him. I don't know when and I don't know what, but I'm sure of it." He shivered suddenly. "I think I have to go. Fuck."

"No, wait! Please, just stay here." She pleaded.

"I can't! I…I really have to go! I've already been here longer than I should have!" He cried, "I shouldn't even be here! I'll get into a lot of trouble! Evian, I'm so confused. I don't know what to do." He fidgeted with his hands, "I'm really, really, really lost. Shit." He closed his eyes and shook his head.

Evian was never close to Marshal. Sure, they'd talk once in a while, but he only associated with Tala, and she never really paid any attention to Marshal. So talking to him right now, in this way, was kind of odd. "Marshal, it's okay, you can talk to me about whatever's bugging you."

"You don't understand!" He half-yelled, "Even if I runaway, or try to escape, they'll hunt me down just like they're doing to Tala and Kai. And they'll kill me, Evian. They really will. And not only me, they'll kill everyone I know, like my Ma and my old man. Shit man. No one can help, Evian, _no_ one."

"It's…it's okay…"

"No! It's not okay! See? You don't understand, Evian! You don't understand what it's like to…" And that's when it happened, the brunette brown down, _literally_. A few tears streamed down his face, and that's all the tears he allowed to escape. He regained his composure, and wiped his cheeks with his hands, "I just thought I'd be able to do more in life, y'know? I had plans; I wanted to go to college, I wanted to be a basketball player, become rich as fuck, help my Ma with her mortgage, y'know, shit like that. I don't think I can. I don't even know how long I'll be alive. I mean, it's like each day is my last. Maybe that's why I'm trying to help out; at least I'll know that I did one good thing before I fucking died, because all my life I've sort of been a mess, man."

And that last line was what really hit Evian like a rolled up newspaper: her life had been a complete mess as well. And it was extremely ironic how Marshal and she had so much in common, and it was only now she was starting to realize this. And she knew him for how long? Six, seven years? But they were never close. She never really talked to him, other than asking him if he wanted any snacks or maybe a drink when he came over, but that was about it. And she'd never been over to his place, not even once.

And it was funny how Marshal never really made it obvious to anyone that he was _miserable_ inside. It made Evian wonder how obvious or unobvious she made things. But who had it worse? She didn't know. She didn't know what his issues were. And he didn't know what her issues were.

"I don't have such a good feeling," Marshal stood up abruptly, pulling his hood over his head and looking around cautiously, "Fuck, I should have left a long time ago."

"Wait! You have to tell me what's going on with Tala!"

"Not now! I can't! Maybe next time! If there's even a next time! I don't know! Just…I don't know; make sure he's never alone or anything! Just stay with him all the time! I have to go!" And with that, the dark-haired teen raced off, leaving a dumbfound Evian.

The blonde sat there, with slouched shoulders, unsure of what to do, really. She was too disturbed to go back to bed. It was one thing to be stressed out about beyblading and always trying to be better than Tala, but now, things were _really_ taking a turn for the worst. And what was worse than worse was the fact that she had absolutely no idea what Marshal was talking about.

Okay, Tala was in trouble. That much she understood. But with what? And why? And trouble could mean anything. It could mean something really, really small and insignificant or it could mean something really, really big and noteworthy. From the sounds of it though, it sounded pretty big. Marshal looked and sounded so _frightened_. And the things he said to her, they were just so upsetting…

_"Even if I runaway, or try to escape, they'll hunt me down just like they're doing to Tala and Kai. And they'll kill me, Evian."_

She recalled Marshal's words. And she wished she didn't because once she did, it only made her more curious and worried and scared.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**Okay… **

**I KNOW! I KNOW! SORRRRY! **It took me forever – _literally_ – to update this chapter. Look how long it's been! I promised myself I would update at LEAST 8 times over the summer! And I only updated once! Shame on me! I've just been so tied up and I honestly thought something like this would NEVER happen to me!

**1. Work** – Work was exhausting! Even though I only had to work 4-hour shifts about two to three times a week, I was completely worn out! I NEVER do work at home (ie: clean my own bed, clean my own clothes, clean my own room, blablabla), and so, I was literally thrown into an environment I wasn't able to cope with! Plus, school started, and I'm the type of person who cannot concentrate on more than one thing, and I decided school was more important.

**2.** **School – **For the past four years during high school, I've written stories, and I've tried to balance school at the same time. Usually, I concentrated more on my stories than school (because I'm retarded), and eventually, my marks dropped, but I kept continuing my stories and updating. This year, I'm forcing myself to do the opposite. Well, sort of. I want to balance both, even though I know I can't, so…chances are, updates will PROBABLY be slow (not as slow as this update, don't worry; I'm talking two weeks, maybe three weeks max).

**3. Why I didn't update in like…a zillion years – **BECAUSE! I am SO obsessed with perfection, that I literally beat myself down, not only in school, but even with a simple story such as this. Spelling, grammar, and other mistakes bother me to a great extent. You have no idea how long I've been working on this stupid chapter (and even now I think this chapter is stupid!). Originally, I planned on making this chapter longer, but then I was just like, 'K, I'm not really getting anywhere, and I REALLY need to update before people think I died of cancer or something'. So here it is. Not that great, but…I'm stressed…

**That was like a journal entry… **

**Ooh so predictable – **I tried Pantene once. It killed my hair. It literally just murdered my hair. Oh lord.

**Crying Sorceress – **YES! Someone recommended that to me! I haven't tried that though, I'm trying this other thing that says it'll make your hair silky and shiny and sexy and GUESS WHAT! It really DID make my hair silky and shiny and sexy! Omfg! I'm going to have sex with my own hair now! …don't ask…

**Becky – **I KNOW! Every story I read, the main character is some Goth girl with black hair, black eyes, black this, black that, and I'm like…okay, we ARE in the 21st century here, what happened to all the colour? Like, shit.

**CrazygirlHaley5555 – **I couldn't let her win because you have to know how she feels! Like how she really feels! (AND HOW I REALLY FEEL!)

**Lady-Nikki – **Talette? Oh my tits, I think I would actually kill someone who goes by that name. Seriously. Haha, Talette. Holy shit.

**DarknessStar1313 – **More characters? Oh no WAY! Lol. Then I'd confuse myself!

**eMpTy-ShElLs – **Someone told me that Bed Head stuff was really good too. I should buy that one day. And I need flirting and boy advice from you!

**daysofHALCYON – **THAT IS THE GREATEST SONG EVER! THANK YOU! I LOVE IT!

**And now, here are my thank-you's: **

****

**Lyttlechickie (SPECIAL THANKS TO HER FOR KICKING MY ASS TO UPDATE!) **

**Malaysia**** Harika 09 **

**Bloodstainedmoon **

**Rand-chan (UPDATE BITCH!) **

**Simply Sakura **

**The perfect oasis **

**ShadowKat14 **

**Cybanne-chan **

**If I say I love you **

**AG329 **

**S2pid innocence **

**Hinoko-chan **

**Kasanara **

**Sugar911 **

**K.G-MP2 **

**Merffles **

**HIEI LOVERS **

**Xx midnite xx **

**Lamanth **

**ILoveAnime89 **

**Majirdiu **

**xXxLuna-the-ChosenxXx **

**ObsessiveDevil23 **


	25. Chapter 25

_…between who you are and who you could be; between how it is and how it should be… _

**DLS** _25_

It was the morning after The Skittles' Las Vegas match, and at this point in time, they were at the airport – nice and early – waiting patiently for their flight to London, UK. Everyone was somewhat spread out in the waiting area, each member of the team doing something different.

"Did you sleep well last night, Evian?" Mariah inquired, glancing over at the blonde, "You look tired, hun."

"I am," Evian admitted, slouching in her seat, attempting to get as comfortable as possible in the small chair. She yawned, "I didn't really get to sleep."

"Why not?" The pink-haired girl questioned. In response, the blonde shrugged her shoulders. Evian didn't know all the reasons why sometimes she wasn't able to get proper sleep during the night like everyone else, but for last night in particular, she knew of at least one factor that kept her awake: Marshal.

At some parts during the night while she lay awake, she was horrified. During other parts of the night, she also considered the fact that maybe Marshal was only joking around, trying to mess with her. Marshal was never serious, much like her, and he absolutely loved to kid around and have some fun. Logically thinking, this postulation made perfect sense! Marshal must have been joking. After all, he was only seventeen, and so was her brother, and so was Kai, and so was she. Being seventeen meant you were just a _baby_; there was no possible way of getting involved with such disturbing and complex situations.

It made a lot of sense to Evian. In fact, Evian believed she had finally figured it all out! Of course Marshal was joking! That ass…

Soon it was time to leave the waiting area and head towards the departure gates and board the aircraft. Surprisingly enough, Mariah voluntarily sat beside the blonde on the airplane.

"I hope you don't mind," Mariah started, "It's just that I'd rather sit beside you than with Ray and hear him talk about hot rides and chicks."

Evian chuckled, "No problem." In actual fact, Evian was exhilarated! She truly wanted to become good friends with Mariah. The blonde desperately wanted a friend, someone from this team. Even with Tala, it got extremely lonely sometimes. She suddenly heard Mariah make a noise of frustration.

"You know," The pink-haired beauty started, looking across from where she was sitting, "I'm seriously getting pissed," She paused, lowering her voice to a mere whisper and turning to face Evian, "at that bitch."

"You mean Hilary?"

Mariah nodded, "I mean, okay, I understand Kai's her boyfriend, but he's my stepbrother too. She hogs him to herself twenty-four-seven; I can never talk to him anymore." She spared a glance at the couple, "It's been like this for almost a year now." She exhaled out loudly and rolled her eyes, "But whatever. I don't really care."

"Oh…" Evian was stunned, to an extent. Mariah and Hilary appeared to be close friends but right now, it seemed Mariah wasn't too fond of Hilary. "I thought you liked her."

Mariah shrugged, "I do and I don't at the same time, you know what I mean? Sometimes she's an okay person to be friends with and sometimes I just think to myself: why am I talking to this person?"

"I think it's because of Kai. Like, they're together and maybe you're forced to talk to her."

"Yeah, sometimes I wish she wasn't with Kai." The pink-haired girl made a face.

"Don't worry about it," Evian started, "I know how you feel. I know that we don't always agree on things and we fight a lot, but Tala and I are really close and sometimes when he's talking to Dakota on the phone for hours and hours, I get a little ticked off," She paused, "Jealous, even." She confessed.

Mariah nodded in agreement, "Yeah, like how he can waste so much time on some girl but he can't even sit and talk to you for five minutes. It's ridiculous. I've noticed something with you and Tala though, you guys only talk when one of you has a problem. Other than that, you guys don't talk to each other much."

Evian dwelled on the statement for a few seconds. Mariah was _right_…

"Like you know?" The pink-haired girl continued, "How much do you really know about Tala? And how much does he really know about you? And same thing with me and Kai; I don't think either of us knows a lot about each other."

"Yeah…"

"It's not about knowing your favourite colour or your favourite genre of music; it's about knowing you inside-out." Mariah concluded. Evian nodded, staring out the small oval window blankly. How much _did_ Tala know about her? And how much did _she_ know about him? "Although I have to admit," Mariah started, "I tried my hardest to get close to Kai and try to be a good sister."

"And what happened?" Evian questioned.

Mariah shrugged, looking at the ground, staring at nothing in particular, "I don't know. I don't think he likes the idea of me being his stepsister very much."

"But you guys practically grew up together. I heard he had some trouble adjusting in the beginning, but I thought things were okay now."

"Haven't you noticed, Evian? We hardly talk to each other." She sighed, "Growing up, I always wanted a brother or a sister and when I found out I was finally going to get a brother, I was so happy."

"Wasn't he happy?"

Mariah shook her head, "Oh, no _way_. The first time my dad and I went over to their house, he personally went up to my dad and told him to get out of the house." The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes, "My dad tried to be nice and everything but Kai ended up throwing a tantrum, and trust me, it wasn't pretty."

"Then what happened?"

"His mom came, spanked him on the bum, took him to his room and told him not to come out until he was sorry." Mariah said, "I don't think he was sorry though because he never came out, not even for dinner."

"Aww," Evian said, "But he was only five, so it's understandable."

"Yeah. It was really bad for about a year and then things slowly started getting a little better. I still think he's uncomfortable with the fact that I'm his sister and that my dad is his dad. He never really accepted it. He doesn't call my dad 'dad'; he calls him by his name. They got into a really big fight about that a few months back."

It was then that Evian realized Kai's life wasn't as trouble-free and perfect as he made it seem. He had issues, just like everyone else. For some reason, she felt extremely sorry for him; she felt as if she _cared_ when she didn't want to care about someone like Kai.

"Sometimes I think it's because of our backgrounds, like, I'm Asian and he's white, so maybe he's not too comfortable with interracial couples or something." Mariah stated. She looked at Evian, "Even I feel a little uneasy sometimes…" She said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, but I guess feeling that way is normal. I think that maybe I would feel uncomfortable too. Like, I'm not being racist, but you know." The blonde shrugged, hoping to get her point across. She heaved a sigh, "But don't worry, he'll get used to it."

Mariah chuckled, "Ev, it's already been twelve years and Kai's nowhere near getting used to anything." That marked the end of the small – but very sentimental – conversation. Soon it was time for take-off, indicating the start of a long flight.

Initially, Evian was bored out of her mind. She was about to stir up a conversation about nail cuticles with Mariah, but soon realized the young Asian was busy watching the romantic comedy that was currently being aired. Behind her, she could hear Tala and Ray literally dieing of laughter over the dirty jokes they were making. It was amusing, but eventually lost its fun when she didn't understand some of the terminology they were using. During the middle of the flight, fatigue kicked in and she'd finally fallen asleep even with all the commotion going on around her.

**x x x **

After knifing her for a third time in virtually the same region, the man let go of the blonde and let her drop towards the grass like a dead fly. Traumatized and shaken, she clutched onto her stomach and her side where immense pain began to pulsate. She could _feel_ her blood oozing out of her body and she had the urge to throw-up. She cried noisily, desperately hoping for the heinous pain to disappear. She couldn't believe she was still conscious. She couldn't believe she was still _alive_.

She figured the man who stabbed her must have runaway to avoid being caught. From somewhere around her, she could hear people calling out her name.

"Evian!" There it was. "Evian!" There it was again, "Wake up!" She didn't understand; wake up from what? She was already awake, wasn't she? "We're here! Wake up, c'mon!" This is when Evian realized she must have been in a dream. She tried to wake herself up. It took a while, but before she knew it…

The blonde opened her eyes, blinking a few times. She sleepily eyed the redhead standing before her. But she ignored him. Instead, she looked down at herself and placed a hand on her belly and shuddered slightly. She felt sick all over again, just like in her dream. And that's when she realized everything she had gone through a few seconds ago wasn't real. But it seemed so existent. She _felt_ pain.

"What's wrong?" Tala inquired.

She shook her head, getting to her feet, "Just tired." She yawned. Before checking into a hotel, the team headed to a local diner called _Elmo's_ for dinner. The place was packed, mostly by beybladers from all over the world. The team grabbed a round table to sit at and waited for a waitress to take their orders.

"So what's everyone going to have?" Mr. MaCaffery questioned, looking at the menu and then at the group of teens.

"I'll have what she's having," Kai answered, motioning towards Hilary.

"Well in that case," Hilary chuckled, "Fries? How does that sound, baby?"

"Fine with me." The slate-haired teen shrugged.

"Alright then," Mr. MaCaffery said, "Fries for you two. Evian?"

"I'll have…" She bit her bottom lip and skimmed through the menu for the hundredth time. There were too many things to choose from. She couldn't make a fast decision.

"Well?" Mr. MaCaffery pushed.

"I haven't decided yet," Evian said.

"Then I'll get back to you." Mr. MaCaffery notified. With that, he asked the rest of the team what they wanted for dinner, and as promised, he re-questioned his daughter. "Decided yet?"

She shook her head, "Not yet." She said. She was debating between spaghetti and macaroni salad. _Macaroni salad has a lot of fat. And spaghetti seems too plain._

"Just pick already, Ev," Tala rolled his eyes, "You're so slow."

"Shut up," She said, keeping her eyes on the menu, "What's everyone else having?" She looked around the table, hoping this would perhaps narrow down her choices.

"Burger," Mariah said, "It's not that big, Evian. I think you can eat it too."

Evian made a face, "I'll pass." In all honesty, she was craving fries and burgers and pizza and other 'junk' food, but the fear of the number of calories and the grams of fat stopped her from eating those kinds of foods. "Fine," She sighed, "I'll have…" She paused, "I'll have a burger too. And a salad! That should balance things. Oh, and chocolate milk."

"And now she wants to eat like a pig," Tala commented.

"I do not!" Evian smacked her other half, "I am _not_ a pig!"

"Yeah? Even I ain't having that much stuff." The redhead said.

"Yeah, well you know what? You're _uuuugly_." Evian placed the menu on the table.

"Okay, okay, that's enough you two." Mr. MaCaffery cut in before the twins could fire off at each other like usual. Soon, their orders were taken and their dinner was served. After dinner was over, Mr. MaCaffery led the team to a hotel that was more than willing to give the team a discount to stay here since they were 'famous' and staying here would increase the hotel's prestige.

True, everyone on the team was tired, but they still chose to chill for a while before heading to bed. Everyone crashed in the girls' room.

"Man," Ray started, "The tuck shop downstairs is closed; we could have rented a movie or something."

"Aw man, we couldn't even get some beer?" Tala complained. "This sucks cow piss."

"It doesn't matter," Mariah said, "Let's just talk."

"Talk about _what_?" Kai inquired.

Mariah rolled her eyes, "Men…"

"I've got a pack of cards," Ray spoke up once again, "Anyone up for poker?"

"_Strip_ poker?" Kai suggested, looking around the room. Both Tala and Ray grinned like there was no tomorrow. Hilary only shrugged. Mariah sighed, muttering a 'pervert' under her breath. The only 'in-your-face' reaction was given by Evian.

"Ew! No!" The blonde exclaimed, "That's like super nasty! My own brother is in this room, like, _ewww_."

"Then get out of this room, Blondie," Tala said, "Strip poker is for mature people anyway."

"Oh my god, you guys are actually going to play?" Evian scrunched up her face in utter disgust.

"We don't want to – or at least _I_ don't want to," Mariah cut in, "But there's nothing else to do. Just play, Evian. No one's going to get _completely_ naked."

"Hey! That's not fair!" Tala argued, furrowing his eyebrows at Mariah's statement, "The whole idea of strip poker is to _strip_!"

While Mariah and Tala – and eventually everyone else – continued to argue about the rules and regulations of strip poker, Evian quietly slipped out of the room and made her way downstairs to the hotel lobby for a smoke.

At least that _was_ her plan.

"Evian! Over here!"

The blonde looked over her shoulder towards the hotel's small bar area, which was located alongside the dining hall. From one of the stools, her father raised his arm, motioning his daughter to come over. Passing by countless dinner tables, Evian made her way over to her father and grabbed a seat on one of the stools beside him.

"What are you doing up so late, Cookie? You should be in bed; aren't you tired?"

Evian shrugged, "Not really." She didn't think it was very appropriate to tell her dad that Tala and the others were playing strip poker.

"Well you look tired," Mr. MaCaffery said, slightly twirling his wine glass as if to mix the contents, "You want to try some?" He referred to the alcoholic beverage he was consuming, "Red wine; very good for your health, especially after dinner."

She gave her father a funny look, "But I'm underage."

Mr. MaCaffery chuckled, "A sip or two won't hurt."

She looked at him, "Will I get all weird and stuff?"

The brown-haired man couldn't help but laugh, "No Evian, you won't get drunk if that's what you're afraid of."

"I guess," The blonde took the wine glass her father offered and held it up to her lips. This would be her very first time trying alcohol. She had always heard wine was good for your heart and things like that from television and books and such and now her father was saying it too. And he did say it wouldn't hurt to try it a little bit. Besides, this was her own father telling her it was okay to do so.

The only thing she was afraid of was what her father had mentioned: getting drunk. Among others, she had seen Tala get completely wasted at house parties and at home when their parents weren't around, and in his state-of-mind, he had done and said a _lot_ of things he wasn't supposed to say or do. This is what she was afraid of, getting drunk and then saying or doing things she never intended to say or do, especially in front of others.

"You don't have to try it if you don't want to," Mr. MaCaffery added.

"It's okay," Evian said, taking a quick and small sip. She made a face, as if she had just bit into a lemon; she looked at her father, "It's weird."

"That's what everyone says when they try it for the first time, I guess," Mr. MaCaffery said.

Evian took another sip, a little bit more than her previous sip, and again, she had the same facial expression, "It's kind of bitter," She described the wine. It was at this point she wondered even _more_ why people enjoyed drinking. They didn't taste good – that was for sure! She pushed the wine glass towards her father. "I guess I should go to bed now." She was getting ready to leave.

"Hold it," Her father put a hand on her shoulder, "I think we need to have a little talk."

"Have a little talk about what?"

"You."

Evian was somewhat taken aback. She and her father were never very close no matter how close they pretended to be around people who didn't know them.

"I know we don't talk much," He confessed, "And there are many reasons why we don't talk much." He added. "Sometimes we don't understand each other as much as we should be able too."

"But you understand Tala," Evian interrupted, "You understand him a lot. Every time he has a problem he comes to you and you don't get mad at him. But with us, it's different. We always get into a fight and we end up not talking to each other for _days_."

"True," Mr. MaCaffery nodded, "And I would love to work on making our relationship better."

"But," Evian made a face, "But we can't." She stated bluntly, "You're either at work or talking to Tala; you don't have time for me."

"Is that how you really feel, Evian?"

"Yes, that's how I really feel, dad." She admitted. "And I know what you're going to say; you're going to say it's not true. But it is! It's the way I feel." She felt her eyes get watery. But she didn't want to cry. Not in front of her dad. He already thought she was fragile and emotional; if she cried it would only prove him right. "How can the way I feel not be true?"

"Evian, how can I always know how you feel if you don't tell me how you feel? I know I'm your father and I _should_ know even if you don't tell me, but sometimes it's just so hard. You try to hide everything. Sometimes when I think you're unhappy, you're actually happy and there's nothing wrong, and sometimes when I think everything's okay, you're actually upset. With you, I can never really tell. You're very inconsistent and I've noticed that you apply this inconsistency to almost everything whether it's your feelings or school work or friends."

Evian furrowed her eyebrows. What kind of a father _was_ he? If he didn't know how his own daughter was, then who did? She felt so mad. "How can I tell you how I feel if you never understand?"

"Have you ever tried to explain how you feel, Evian?"

"I have!" She raised her voice. "Didn't I tell you I hate it when you compare our report cards?" She argued, "And I don't like it when you compare our rooms! And the TV shows we watch! And what about the way we eat? You even compare us during training!" She felt as if she could go on forever and ever! She was letting her emotions run, and she was letting them run fast. She was saying things she didn't want to say. She was saying them without even realizing she was saying them.

"That's not _comparing _Evian; I only say that because -"

"It is comparing!" She cut him off. "And I don't like it! You know why? Because it makes me feel like trash! And I get _so_ jealous of him! Don't you get what you're doing, dad? You're ruining our brother-sister relationship! Every time you tell me he's better than me, I start to hate him more! Sometimes I can't stand him! I hate it when people are better than me! I'm a jealous person, I know that! I can't help it!" By now, she was fully shouting, oblivious to bystanders and other people around her, "I'm not him! I'll never be him! I'm sorry that I didn't turn out the way you wanted me to turn out and I'm sorry that I'll never be as good as Tala! I know he's better than me and I don't need you and mom and relatives and everyone else to keep reminding me! And you know something, dad, it hurts! It really does!" Now she really felt like crying. But she wiped her eyes before the tears could fall, "I can't do it. I can't make you proud of me no matter how much I try because I know that Tala will always be one step ahead of me." This was when Evian realized she had said too much, _way_ too much.

Maybe it was because of the two sips of red wine she had a few minutes ago?

There was an eerie silence for a few seconds before Evian swiftly slid off the highchair, "I'm gonna go to bed." Her father called after her a few times, but she ignored him. Like yesterday, she absentmindedly walked wherever her feet took her. Five minutes later she found herself on the roof of the hotel. _Am I even allowed here? Well I must be; why else would they leave the entrance to the roof open?_ She laughed, to herself, when she thought about the concept of suicide. _They probably left the entrance open for freewill._

She hugged herself, as it was breezy up here, and paced towards the railings. She looked downward. Even though she didn't have a fear for heights, looking down at the world from a thirty-story building was reasonably creepy. But it was fun at the same time. No matter how cliché it sounded, she felt _free_. It was okay to lean against the railing as the construction workers were intelligent enough to put barriers a good two to three feet away from the edge of the roof.

"It's fucking cold up here, don't you think?"

Evian quickly turned around; she wasn't expecting anyone up here. She couldn't help but smile slightly, "Marshal? What the hell are you doing here?"

"What do you think, bitch?"

"Hey!"

The brunette laughed as he approached her, "Relax, I was kidding." He leaned over the barrier, like her. "Nice view, eh?"

"Yeah," She nodded, "I didn't know you guys were in England."

"We got here this morning. I saw that chick, what's-her-face," He paused to think about the name of the person he was referring to, "That Asian girl, Kai's stepsister? Yeah, I saw her and I figured you guys must be here too."

"How'd you know I was up here?"

"I didn't," He shrugged, "Just came up here for some fresh air and saw you. What are you doing up here anyway? Aren't you cold? It's fucking minus ten degrees out here or something, girl." He pulled off his oversized hoodie, "Put this on, man."

"Hey, I'm fine. You're going to freeze; you've only got a t-shirt on."

"Nah, I'll be okay. Besides, you're a chick, so it's common courtesy, yo." He smiled. "So why are you here anyway?"

"Same reason as you," She exhaled out loudly, pulling the brown sweatshirt over her head. "I sort of had a fight with my dad. At least I think it was a fight. I don't know. I don't really care."

"Shit happens," He said.

"Yeah, I know,"

"So you wanna talk about it or anything?" He asked casually.

She rolled her eyes slightly and gave a small shrug, "We were just, I don't know, arguing I guess. I don't even remember what we argued over. I got really pissed though." She almost felt as if she was talking to her own brother. Tala always asked her how she was and if she wanted to talk about anything. Well…at least he _used_ to care. "Can I just talk to you for a while?" She couldn't believe she'd just said that. She couldn't believe she had just said that to _Marshal_ of all people.

"You don't even have to ask, Evian," Marshal chuckled. "I'm all ears, baby."

"It's just," She exhaled out noisily, "I don't even know where to start…"

"Start wherever you want to."

"Okay. First, I don't know what's going on with me and Tala anymore. I feel like our bond is…" She paused, searching for the right words, "In the last threads." That sounded very poetic, and she did that unintentionally. At least she got her point across, "When I wasn't on this team – because remember, I replaced Enrique – I was so scared that Tala would be away for a long time and I wouldn't have anyone to talk to anymore. I know it's stupid and I know a lot of people don't get along with their siblings, but Tala and I are like best friends. We fight sometimes, but that's over stupid stuff, and we make up pretty fast." She looked over at Marshal; he nodded, indicating he was listening, "Anyway, when I found out I was going to be on the team, I guess I was happy; it meant I was going to be with him all the time and if I had to talk to anyone about anything, it would be him. But I guess I was wrong…"

"Why?"

"Because he's busy, I think. You know, it's unfair because he has time for his stupid team and for Dakota and other things."

"Whoa, hold on, _Dakota_? Cali Crushers, that Dakota?"

"Yeah."

"Holy, what's going on between those two?"

"Well he likes her and I guess she likes him too." Evian shrugged. "As far as I know, they're not together or anything. But I don't know. See? This is what bugs me; he's hiding stuff from me. I tell him everything. Why can't he just spill the beans on what's happening with him and Dakota? He can trust me. He knows that. Obviously I can't really give him advice because I've never had a boyfriend and I don't know much about these things, but don't you think it's important for him to tell me what's going on?"

"Let me tell you something, Ev, Tala's always been a bit secretive. It's not that he's arrogant, so don't ever think that about your brother; he's not like that. I guess he just feels _naked_ when people know too much about him. Even with me, I know we were best buds and all, but it took a lot to get stuff out of him, you know?"

"Yeah, but _I_ don't feel 'naked'," She used her fingers as quotation marks, "when I tell him everything about me. It actually makes me feel better to know that someone else knows what I'm going through."

"I know what you mean. I used to tell him a lotta shit too. He was like my diary, man."

Evian couldn't help but smile, "Really?"

"I know it's fucked, I mean, Tala? My diary? Fuck yo, that's pretty retarded. I feel so gay." He laughed out loud. "Don't tell him I said this shit, he'll think I'm twisted."

"Don't worry about it," She assured the brunette. After all, she followed the whole 'Tala-is-my-diary' concept too. "Anyway," She continued, "I just feel like we're very distant now."

"Maybe he's stressing."

"Tala doesn't stress."

"Trust me, your brother stresses like _mad_." Marshal said, "You should have seen him during exam time last year and especially since it was rugby season too, because he was on the team."

"He seemed fine."

"Yeah, well, he's a good actor." Marshal shrugged. "Like I said, he's not always that open with me, but he gets nervous just as much as everyone else does. He's human too, Evian, don't forget that. He has a breaking point."

"I haven't seen it."

"I haven't seen it either." The brunette admitted, "But hopefully we won't have to see it, right? So, try going a little easier on your brother, man."

"I guess…"

"So any other shit bugging you?"

The blonde grinned, "Actually, yeah, there _is_ one more thing," With that, she grabbed the brunette and pinned him against the railing, "Liar!" She couldn't help but chuckle. "You think Tala's a good actor? You should look at yourself!"

"What the fuck are ya bitchin' about, girl?" The brunette inquired. Evian raised an eyebrow as if to say 'you know what I'm talking about'. "Oh, _oh_! Yesterday, eh?" He laughed. He gazed into her sea green pools almost as if to tell her something, but instead: "Gotcha."

"Bitch!" She smacked him on the arm playfully, "See? I knew you were joking. Tala and Kai in trouble? Like, okay." She rolled her eyes, letting go of him. She leaned against the railing herself, backwards, and looked right up into the sky. The view like this was breathtaking and a little frightening; she could literally see the entire sky and it made her feel so tiny.

"You know something? It's fucking freezing up here but I could stay here forever."

"Me too." Evian agreed. And that was the truth. There were so many reasons why she enjoyed being up here. Primarily, none of her stupid teammates were here to bug her and that sort of included Tala as well; secondly, her father wasn't here preaching to her about ridiculous things; and third, being up here made her feel so _released_ and limitless. But she felt as if she wouldn't feel the same if Marshal wasn't here at this instant; she enjoyed his company because she realized Marshal was someone she could talk to.

Maybe she didn't always need Tala after all…

"So, you miss home?" Marshal asked.

"Yeah," The blonde sighed, "I know a lot of people would _die_ to be in my shoes, I mean, I've practically been all over the U.S. so far and now I'm in England, but…" She paused, "I don't think I'm necessarily enjoying my time, like, don't get me wrong, I love to travel, but this isn't what I would consider traveling." She said.

"I know what you mean," Marshal concurred, "We're sorta being _transported_, y'know?"

"Yeah," Evian nodded, "I'd rather stay in one place for a week or two, shop and have fun, and then maybe head to some other city or country and do the same. But all I'm doing is getting on a plane, getting _off_ a plane, staying at boring hotels and training like all the time and I'm not getting enough sleep, and it just sucks."

"Yeah…" There was silence for a few seconds, and then, "But if you had the power to choose your destination, then where would you go next?"

Evian grinned, " California."

"Why there?"

Evian shrugged her shoulders, "I guess it's mainly because of the weather; I'd love to wake up to the sun every morning and dress up in a jean skirt, a tank top, and wear flip flops."

"Wow. That's deep, yo." Marshal laughed. "But I feel you on that one, girl." The brown-haired teen looked straight down towards Earth. A sudden flash of orange and purple in the crowd caused him to gasp. But he regained his composure and tried not to overreact. Instead, he turned towards the blonde, "I think we should head back now."

"Aww, already? But it's super fun up here." She pouted.

"I know, but we'll both catch a cold," He said, pulling her arm, "Let's go, babes."

"Okay…" She mumbled, giving in. Once inside, she quickly took off the borrowed sweatshirt and handed it back to Marshal. "Are you busy tomorrow?" She question as they paced towards the elevator.

"Why?"

"We can hang out and stuff." She said.

"Uh, I'll see if I can." He said. They got into the elevator and exchanged goodbyes once Evian had to get off on the floor she was staying in.

"Where'd you go?" The redhead asked as soon as his other half walked into the girls' room.

"Oh, just took a walk around the hotel," Evian shrugged it off as she lazily threw herself onto her bed, still dressed in her street attire, "I thought you guys were playing cards."

"Nah," Tala said, "_Some_ people don't know the actual rules for strip poker," He eyed the pink-haired girl, "Unlike me."

"Gee, you must've played strip poker a million times," Mariah rolled her eyes.

"I have!" The redhead said. "And with plenty of people too!"

Evian made a face, "I don't want to know…" Some stuff, she'd rather not know about Tala.

"I'm going to bed, guys," Ray said, switching off the small television set manually.

"Same," The slate-haired teen yawned, who'd been temporarily lying on the carpeted floor.

"Aww, poor baby," Of course, Hilary took this chance to show her 'undying love' for her boyfriend by literally hopping on him and kissing him like there was no tomorrow.

Evian took one look at the two and shuddered. Nonetheless, she sighed and glued her eyes towards the ceiling. God she was tired. She rolled over to her side and wished everyone would just leave the room so she could get a good fifteen-hour sleep. She was dead exhausted. She prayed to God there would be no training tomorrow; Tala and her father couldn't possibly be _that_ cruel, could they?

**x x x **

The Skittles stayed in England for five days, today being their fifth. The night they arrived and they day after was spent by resting and relaxing. After that, the team kicked into some heavy training for three days. Today was their battle.

"Alright guys," The team captain attempted to quiet everyone down in the locker room, especially his sister who seemed to go on and on about God-knows-what with Mariah. "Okay, so we're going against some British team called _The Piranhas_," He paused, reading over the information sheet that was given to him a few minutes ago, "They ranked twentieth in last year's competition so they're pretty experienced. I know being ranked twentieth sounds bad, but think about how many teams were in the BBA; around 200 maybe? So that's pretty impressive."

"Who's going against who?" Hilary questioned.

"I was getting to that," Tala said, "Okay, Kai and Hilary; you two are going against Ben and Clooney."

"_Clooney_? Are you for real? Damn, at least my mom put some thought into my name before naming me." Although Kai was being serious, his statement earned a chuckled from the rest of the team, including Mr. MaCaffery.

"Ray and Mariah, you guys are fighting George and Patsy. Ev and I will battle Donnelley and Dale." Tala finished. After this, the team had to wait another thirty minutes. Tala took this time to talk to Evian about a few things, "Are you ready for today's battle?"

She shrugged her shoulders and chuckled, "I don't really care."

"Hey, what did I say about negative attitude?"

"I'm not being _negative_," She said, "I just…don't really care. I don't do anything anyway. As long as Kai, Hilary, Mariah, and Ray win, we're good, right? As long as we get to move on in this competition, we're okay."

While Tala disliked Evian's newfound view on beyblading ever since her last battle, he didn't argue with her. The Las Vegas match psychologically crushed her. It eroded her self-esteem. But she did have a good point: she didn't do anything. And she didn't have the power to do anything because she didn't have a bit beast – she'd given Wolborg back to him and refused to keep it. "Alright," Tala agreed, "As long as you're not stressing and you're happy, I'm cool with everything."

At this, Evian grinned and went back to filing her nails.

Once their thirty minutes were up, the team filed into the stadium, and once Jazzman had announced everything that needed to be announced – like who was battling who, and who was from what part of the world, and what-have-you – it was time to battle.

"Remember, there's _no_ room for mistakes," Tala reminded Kai and Hilary, who were going up first. "We can't lose."

"We _know_," Hilary rolled her eyes, dragging Kai with her to the dish. They readied their blades.

"3…2…1…let it rip!"

Four beyblades landed in the dish forcefully, two of which were red and blue, belonging to Kai and Hilary. Like always, Hilary wasted no time.

"Aphrodite, attack!" She ordered. From the other side of the dish, the opponents, Ben and Clooney, exchanged glances and smirked.

"Alright Ginger, you know what to do," Clooney whispered. An orange light emitted through his white beyblade and a lion-like bit beast emerged.

Although she was uninterested, Evian carefully watched the battle. The battle was going smoothly until Hilary started acting slightly strange. She seemed to be in a sort of daze. It was at this point Kai realized that the bit beasts Ben and Clooney possessed bit beasts that were very different from any other bit beast Kai had encountered in the past. Well they weren't entirely different; it's just that Kai hadn't been faced with a situation like this in a long while. Within seconds, a red beyblade was thrown out of the dish. Evian's eyes widened; she hated to admit it, but Hilary was a strong beyblader and she almost never lost. A few seconds after her beyblade was out, she seemed to go back to normal…sort of; she kept asking Kai what happened, whirling around every two seconds, looking confused.

"Dranzer! Fire arrow!"

"Think we should do the same thing on him, Clooney?" Ben questioned his partner, grinning.

"Nah, he seems more interesting. Let's see what he's got." Clooney said.

_I've done this before, two-on-one. I can win this._ Kai thought. He examined the white and purple beyblade, trying to find a weak spot. The two beyblades were always together; they never parted. _That's it!_

"Dranzer! Switch to defense!" The blue beyblade continued circling the dish, with the two other beyblades on its tail.

"That's all?" Clooney looked unimpressed.

"Not really," The slate-haired teen said. The blue beyblade disappeared from the dish.

"Hiding?" Ben inquired.

"Maybe," Kai grinned. The blue beyblade reappeared, this time behind his opponents. It sped up and collided with the purple one, and in turn, the purple one crashed into the white one, sending both flying out of the bey dish.

"I can't believe it! Ladies and gentlemen! The winner of the first round is Kai and Hilary!"

Without looking at his opponents, Kai called back his beyblade and left the dish, with Hilary in one hand. Up next were Mariah and Ray.

Evian watched the battle closely. Mariah and Ray were doing fine…that was until Ray started attacking Mariah's beyblade.

"What the hell's he doing?" The team captain furrowed his eyebrows.

"It's not him," Kai said, "Its mind control or something."

"Are you _serious_?" Tala's eyed widened. He continued to watch the battle which ended shortly after. Mariah couldn't handle battling three beyblades at the same time, and it ended in a losing match. That being said, it was evident to the team that Evian and Tala were going to lose as well and the team was going home after this battle. But this is not what Tala worried about; he had seen Hilary and Ray's downfall minutes ago. The opposing team had very unique bit beasts. It made him wonder what other kinds of power their opponents possessed. It scared him; what if they were planning something for Evian? Hopefully it was harmless.

"You ready?" He asked the blonde. Her only response was a casual shrug. They stepped up to the bey dish. Their adversaries, Dale and Donnelley, were already there, discussing something secretly.

"Bladers are you ready?" Jazzman started as everyone prepared for the final battle. "3…2…1…let it rip!"

"We'll take him out first," Donnelley started, "Got it?"

"But he's the stronger one."

"That's the point, innit?" Donnelley rolled his eyes.

Tala ignored the discussion and went right into action. There was no point in wasting time. "Wolborg! Go!"

"Idiot…" Donnelley commented under his breath. "Poseidon, out you come." He commanded in his heavy British accent. Evian remained aloof. She didn't care about the BBA anymore. She just wanted to go home, and as much as she hated to admit it, she wanted to continue school.

"They're gonna lose," Hilary remarked. From the looks of it, it seemed like Evian had mentally checked out a long time ago. Tala was still trying to pull something off, attacking his opponents.

"He's battled two at the same time before," Kai said, "This should be easy for him. He can do this." He eyed Mr. MaCaffery, the only other person on the team who had any idea what he was talking about. For the most part, Tala looked successful. But then something happened.

"Oh god," The redhead bent over and clutched onto his stomach. That seemed to get Evian's attention. Immediately, she looked troubled because he was troubled.

"What happened?"

"N-nothing. Just concentrate on the battle." He attempted to regain his composure. He eyed his opponents. Donnelley's lips tugged into a smug grin.

"I think he's asking for more, Poseidon. What do you say?" The navy beyblade rammed into the grey one powerfully. Evian watched the redhead collapse onto the floor. He looked as if he was in serious pain. She squat down and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"It hurts…" He answered. She furrowed her eyebrows. What was happening?

"So you must be Evian, hmm?" Donnelley started. "I was right about you, I guess. Not very clever, are you? You've just seen two of our battles; don't you get it you nimrod?"

Evian remained silent, not sure what to say to someone who had just called her a 'nimrod'. She ignored the name calling and questioned him about what he was talking about. "Get what?"

Donnelley shook his head in dismay, "Watch." He said. "Poseidon…"

Evian watched as his beyblade crashed into her brother's. Wolborg let out an agonizing howl. But that wasn't all. Tala groaned and curled up into a ball on the ground.

"What are you _doing_?" Evian asked, getting back on her feet. She looked at Donnelley. "What the hell, man?"

"Since your brain is immensely thick, allow me to explain." Donnelley cleared his throat. He appeared to be quite the egoist. He was as tall as her and had chestnut brown hair. The rim of his nose held up a pair of square-framed glasses. "My bit beast, Poseidon, has the ability to physically hurt my opponent and their bit beast."

"_What_?"

"I said, my bit beast, Poseidon, has the -"

"I heard what you said, you fugly retard, but are you serious?" Evian asked as her eyes widened.

"No, I'm joking because I like to joke around; of _course_ I'm serious you dolt."

Back at the bench, Mr. MaCaffery appeared to be extremely concerned over his son's wellbeing. In fact, the whole team was worried. The two other battles were bad, but this was worse; someone was getting hurt.

"Think we should pull those two out of the battle? Tala doesn't look so good." Kai suggested. Everyone else shrugged. Kai sighed. He continued to watch the battle. He suddenly caught a glimpse of a pink beam of light with the corner of his eyes. He looked up. There was nothing there. _What the…_

Meanwhile, back in the dish, Evian tried to comprehend everything, and once she did, she could literally feel her blood boiling. Some _idiot_ actually had the audacity to pick on _her_ brother? Her fists were clenched so tightly, she could feel her own nails digging into the flesh of her palm. She attempted to control her anger. "Leave him alone!" She yelled across the dish.

"Who's going to make me?" Donnelley inquired, examining his nail bits to express ignorance.

At this point, Tala was nearly on the verge of tears. He wanted the battle to end. He wanted Donnelley to stop attacking. Tala didn't care about the battle anymore. He didn't care if he lost. He didn't care if this meant he had to go home. This type of pain reminded him of his past; "Evian, make him stop…it hurts…"

Evian eyed the redhead on the floor.

And that's when she lost it. Something inside of her snapped. _Literally_. She marched over to the other end of the beydish.

"What the hell is she doing?" Hilary questioned, standing up from the bench. The whole stadium watched as the blonde grabbed Donnelley by the collar and smacked him across the face _so_ hard, that not only did his glasses go flying a good ten feet in a random direction, but so did he.

"Whoa…" This came from Ray. Kai's eyes were as wide as saucers and he was downright speechless. He had _never_ seen this side of Evian before! He didn't even know a side like this existed! He was so…so…blown away! In fact, the whole stadium was blown away! Gasps and whispers – and a few 'woots' – could be heard from every corner of the stadium.

At this point, the pain seemed to have disappeared; Tala pulled himself to a sitting position only to be thunderstruck by the scene that took place a few feet away from him. Seconds later, he watched as his father raced towards the deranged blonde and tried to rip her away from Donnelley, who was mercilessly receiving punches and slaps and all kinds of other things from Evian. Shortly after Mr. MaCaffery had reached his daughter, security people had made their way.

"Evian! Stop!" Mr. MaCaffery shouted, pulling her by one arm. "Leave him alone, Evian! It's okay now! Tala's fine!"

This did nothing to stop the blonde. She was going to _kill_ Donnelley. She was going to hurt him MORE than her he hurt Tala! How dare he touch her brother? Well he didn't exactly touch him, but still! Tala was in pain! That was a reasonable enough reason to kill Donnelley and send him to his graveyard!

Having had enough, Kai raced towards the scene as well. Besides, Mr. MaCaffery wasn't doing such a good job anyway. Kai knew that if Evian kept this up, she would get into _serious_ trouble with the law. He didn't necessarily care if they got kicked out of the BBA, what was more important right now was what would happen to her if she didn't stop. He pushed one of security guards away and made his way to Evian. He grabbed her by the waist and attempted to lift her away – _far _away – from Donnelley.

"LET ME GO!" She yelled, trying to kick Kai away from her. At the same time, she grabbed a handful of Donnelley's hair. This prevented Kai from actually taking her away.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Ow, ow, ow! Get this bitch off me!" The British boy yelled.

"Evian! Pull your shit together! C'mon!" Kai tried to talk some sense into the blonde. "You beat the shit out of him already! You're done! Let go of him!"

"I'm not done!" She yelled, pulling on Donnelley's hair harder. She was determined the rip the hair right off his scalp!

From the other side of the dish, Tala continued to watch the heinous warfare. Beating someone into a pulp was wrong, yes, he knew that, but he couldn't help but feel _relieved_ for what Evian was doing. He didn't feel this way because he thought Donnelley deserved this, he felt this way because it was now that he realized Evian really and truly _did_ care about him. And she always did care about him. Even though she never said it out loud and even though she never really showed it, what she was doing now was enough to let Tala know that Evian loved him dearly. And after today, he become conscious of the fact that Evian hadn't changed it all; she was the same Evian he grew up with. Even if her hair got messy, even if her nail polish scraped off in the process, and even if her eye makeup got smudged, she would still destroy anything and _anyone_ that would cause harm towards him. And this made Tala feel good. He grinned absentmindedly; she still had it in her.

Unexpectedly, the lights started flickering in the stadium. This caught Evian off-guard as she gradually let go of Donnelley's hair and looked towards the ceiling. She gasped once she saw a swirl of pink light dance across the ceiling, and then disappear.

"What the hell is that thing?" Dale inquired.

"I don't know, I mean, it could be special affects or something like that," One of the security guards mumbled, shrugging.

Evian continued gazing towards the roof of the stadium. Something pink seemed to fly across for a second time in a row.

"What _is_ that?" Hilary asked. At this moment, everyone's attention was given to the pink light that seemed to whiz by all over the stadium. Even the people in the audience were intrigued by the odd phenomenon. The pink light stopped suddenly, in midair, right above the dish. Then without warning, it began to descend towards it at an unimaginable speed.

"We've got to get out of here!" Dale said, ready to leave the dish.

Evian was so shocked, she couldn't move. But even if she wanted to move, she wasn't able to; Kai had a firm grip on her. And thank god he did. He embraced her tightly and attempted to shield her from the likely impact. Inattentively, she grabbed a hold of him too, burying her face into his chest. _I don't wanna die now!_ She thought. There were so many things she hadn't done yet! Like get a boyfriend, get post-secondary education, get a manicure, and _oh_ god, there were so many other things! _He smells nice...wait, I'm not supposed to be thinking about that! I'm about to die! _She closed her eyes as tightly as possible and braced herself.

"What is going _on_ ladies and gentlemen? Who knows! But that _thing_ just got sucked into Evian's beyblade! Whoa!"

Hearing Jazzman's publication, Evian opened her eyes. There was no impact, no nothing. She felt Kai let go of her at that point.

"That thing just went into your stupid beyblade!" Dale interrupted.

Evian looked at the transparent beyblade. It seemed normal. But then, a pink shaft of light emanated from the beyblade. Within seconds, the transparent beyblade started spinning at an incredible speed, literally becoming invisible in the dish, just like how the store seller said it was supposed to be. Evian just watched, her eyes as wide as ever, as she witnessed something supernatural. Maybe she was dreaming. She had to be.

The entire dish suddenly seemed to be electrocuted as small blue lightning and scorching sparks could be seen.

"Ah! Our beyblades! They're being fried!" Dale said, leaning over the dish.

Then, the lightning and sparks disappeared. Everything went back to normal: Tala's beyblade continued to wobble, Evian's beyblade continued to spin without purpose, and Donnelley's black beyblade and Dale's green one looked ready to attack, spinning just a few inches away from hers.

Unexpectedly, smoke began to slew out from the black beyblade that belonged to Donnelley. The brunette eyed his beyblade with furrowed eyebrows. Before his very eyes, his beyblade slowly stopped spinning. Once it tilted on its side and stopped spinning completely, that's when the real damage could be seen as the beyblade split into two halves perfectly, just like how someone would cut open an apple. He gasped.

The entire stadium had gone quiet, absolutely silent. Suddenly, the transparent beyblade zoomed across and off the dish and made its way over to Evian. She caught it with no dilemma in her right palm, just like a baseball. What caught her eye right away was the imprint of a fox, of Stardust, on the bit chip that had been empty previously. The beyblade felt warm, not hot.

However, while everyone started to clap and cheer and whistle, she suddenly felt extremely lightheaded.

"Whoa! Hey, you alright?" The slate-haired teen questioned, holding the blonde in a standing position, "Evian?"

She placed a hand on her forehead, "I need to sit down…" She felt all sluggish. Kai was literally holding her up, and if not for him, she probably would have fell down; that's how drained she felt. She didn't know why. She was perfectly fine a few seconds ago. She felt a little odd. Keeping her eyes open appeared to be an impossible task. She felt herself falling down. Or maybe she was just imagining it. She didn't know. Was she even awake? But she did feel someone pick her up and hold her close and securely. Or maybe no one had picked her up at all; maybe she was in bed and maybe what she was hugging was actually her hug pillow. But for some reason her 'hug pillow' smelled like Kai. "Sleepy?" Well that _sounded_ a lot like Kai.

It took her a little while to come up with a reply, but she managed to complete the task, "Yeah…" She let herself forget about everything and instead snuggled up closer to him and drifted off to a heavy slumber instantly.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

**FINALLY! AN UPDATE! You have no idea how much it bugged me to know that my last update was more than a month ago…seriously. BUT SHE GOT HER BIT BEAST! ARE YOU PEOPLE HAPPY NOW?! **

**Crying Sorceress –** EW! I wouldn't want to know how Hilary sounds during sex. Omfg, that's so nasty! YOU'RE DIRTY! Lol. Oh, and I've never kissed a boy either :S I think…well I've been kissed on the cheek…but I never returned it…so…I don't know…hahaha.

**Crownowa – **Haha, its funny how this chapter was exactly that! Lol!

**Kasanara – **A little boring?! The last chapter told you a lot about everyone's character! Lol.

**ShadowKat14 – **Yes…I broke down a few days ago too…

**Awww…no one really reviewed the last chapter. Oh well! Thank you too… **

**LadyOfTheBluePhoenix **

**twin1 **

**xXxLuna-the-ChosenxXx **

**Cybanne-chan **

**Lamanth **

**WhiteHikariWings **

**daysofHALCYON **

**Simply Sakura **

**the perfect oasis **

**If I say I love you **

**AnimeGirl329 **

**CrazygirlHaley5555 **

**ILoveAnime89 **

**wish for forever **

**ObsessiveDevil23 **

**Annnnnnnnnnyway…**sorry for the wait. School's a bitch. And plus I've been having some boy trouble. MY FIRST TIME! OMFG! Lol. But I don't think I'm ready yet :S Or maybe he was just too mature for me. Well whatever it was…he was weird.

**BITCHES! GIVE ME SONG SUGGESTIONS!!!!! **


	26. Chapter 26

_Everything that you've always dreamed of, close enough for you to taste, but you just can't touch..._

**DLS **_26_

As Mariah unlocked the hotel room with her key card, Kai stood behind his step sister with Tala's sister's in his arms. The pink haired girl pushed the door and held it open for Kai, watching as he made his way into the room, "Which one's she bunking on?"

"Last one towards the window," Mariah answered, closing the door behind her.

As gently as possible, Kai dropped Evian onto the mattress, careful not to wake her or hurt her. He pulled off her black suede winter boots and socks before pulling the comforter over her. Then he made his way towards the windows and heaved the heavy curtaining from one side to the other side, offering Evian maximum comfort.

"Aren't we caring?" The pink haired girl chuckled from behind.

"Sure..." Kai rolled his eyes. "Just being a good friend."

"Oh?" Mariah raised an eyebrow, "Since when did you and Evian become friends?"

Kai looked over his shoulder at his step sister, "You can shut up now."

"You don't have to worry Kai, your secret's safe with me,"

"I don't know what you're trying to get at, but it's really pissing me off. She fainted, I was only helping and you're trying to make it look like something else when it's not; you're not _TMZ_ or _Entertainment Tonight_, so you can stop acting like them."

"Wow, calm down!" Mariah raised her hands in defence. She was taken aback by Kai's retort. Sure, Mariah and Kai had their fair share of sibling – _step_ sibling – fight, but Kai was never one to get mad over something so small. "I was only kidding." She added.

"K," He said before letting himself out of the room.

_Weird..._ The pink haired girl thought, looking over at the sleeping blonde, her strands dishevelled over her face and her pillow.

**x x x**

Evian tossed to the right, then to the left, and again to right before realizing she was finally awake and wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. She pushed herself off the bed slightly with her hands, almost as if doing a 'girl push up' and scanned the room. The room was dark and all the lights were off except for the lamp beside her bed. Irrational fear of monsters getting the best of her, she quickly got up and turned on the ceiling lights and all the other lamps in the room. She even turned on the television to kill the scary silence.

"– shocking turn of events at the BBA tournament today, and yes, we are speaking of the Category C team, The Skittles. We now go to John, who will recap the entire incident with video footage." The BBA News channel switched over to another reporter, John, to repeat the occurrence of the day, and as promised there was video footage.

Memories of what happened earlier today drifted back to Evian with the help of the video they were airing. Her jaw dropped at the sight of Stardust and she quickly rushed over to her belongings to find her beyblade. "I have a bit beast now?" She thought out loud, throwing clothes in every direction trying to track down the transparent beyblade.

" – not only did the 17 year old Torontonian score a bit beast, but it seems like Kai and her got a little cozy as well!" The reporter's words stopped Evian dead in her tracks. She turned around and plopped on the carpeted floor, listening and watching the news intently. "Sources say the pair have been dating for a while but have tried to keep it under wraps, but whatever the case, we are most definitely keeping Kai and Evian under our _Couples' Radar_!"

Evian's eyes widened. Sources? What sources! And dating? _Seriously_? Who were these 'sources' again?! And Kai and her...a couple?! _Ewwww! _Evian felt her cheeks heat up like the Sahara Desert heated up during the day and she knew damn well her cheeks were as red as her brother's hair. A million thoughts trailed in her mind: Had Kai already seen the news? How much teasing would she hear from Tala? And how would her parents take this? As a joke, or something serious? Would her parents be really angry or shrug this off? What about Evelyn and Miriam? What about the entire _world_? She was on TV for God's sake and the BBA News aired in over 100 countries!

She was a little confused about her feelings. Anyone would have killed to be on TV, and there she was, plastered across the screen being talked about like a celebrity. In that sense, she was pretty happy! But the news was so horrible! Well it wasn't horrible, it was just very awkward!

"Alright, that was all the breaking news we had for today. The time is new 11:58 and that's all the time we have, goodnight!" The show ended and Evian realized how late it was. That's when she noticed she'd been in the room alone all this time; where was everyone else?

"Like I'm leaving this room with oily hair," She said out loud as she made her way into the shower. Unlike her usual hour long showers, today's one was very quick; she was too lazy to be as precise with her shower routine. After lotioning herself, she stepped out of the washroom in her matching black lace trimmed bra and panties.

She grabbed her iPod from her _Coach_ purse and put the ear buds in prior to blow drying her hair. She sang along to the song, occasionally humming for the words she didn't know to _Evacuate the Dance Floor_. She swayed her hips and even shook her butt as she raked her fingers through her hair. She flipped her hair upside down to give her hair a little bit of volume and that's when she noticed, from between her legs, someone standing behind her.

Horrified beyond belief, she turned off her iPod and hairdryer immediately and whirled around to see Kai, who looked equally horrified. And super sexy at the same time. He was completely rocking the 'bad boy' ensemble with a pair of slim black jeans which he was slightly low riding, a dark brown _Abercrombie_ hoodie with the hood pulled over his head, and a black _New Era_ baseball hat. His blue bed head hair peeked out from his hat and hoodie, some covering a bit of his forehead.

A strange feeling washed over the blonde as she stared at the standing gorgeousness that was Kai; she could literally hear her heart beat in her ears, there was a strange lump in her throat, her face felt flushed, and she had a sudden urge to pee.

"Shit..." She watched as the vice captain shielded his eyes with one hand and turned his head away slightly. That was when she finally snapped out of it remembering the circumstance she was in; she was in the same room as Kai technically half naked!

"Oh! My! God!" She shrieked and did the first thing she could think of: turn around in embarrassment, "Get out!" She yelled, hugging her body. "This is so gosh darn awkward!" She wondered why these situations always seemed to find their way to her. Most of all, she wondered why the hell Kai was involved in more than half of those 'situations'! The very first time he came to her house where she made an ass out of herself, the time she said she didn't like him – out loud – and also made an ass out of herself, the hospital incident, the time she was in bed with him where he semi sexually assaulted her, and she lost count of the rest. She rolled her eyes at the recollections and waited uncomfortably to hear the door on his exit, but it never happened. Instead, she felt a bed sheet drape over her body from behind.

As if things couldn't get anymore ill at ease for the poor blonde, she felt about ten million goose bumps all over her body when he placed his hands on her shoulders. He took a whiff of her hair before leaning in closer, "Nice ass,"

Evian looked over her shoulder, her facial expression clearly displaying an 'are-you-effing-kidding-me?' look. Was the guy being serious? What was wrong with him! She was starting to truly believe he was crazy. She really couldn't keep up with all his emotional swings of liking her, disliking her, flirting with her behind Hilary's back, then going back to hating her, and liking her all over again, then came the super sly pervertedness once again and the cycle just repeated itself. She finally opened her mouth to speak, "K, that was just wrong and super inappropriate,"

He only shrugged as he rummaged through Hilary's belongings, "I'm a guy, what do you expect?"

"Uh, decency?" She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Duh,"

"I'm decent enough," He stopped, picking out Hilary's black cardigan, "I don't do it to every girl."

Evian laughed out loud mordantly, "Uh huh, sure,"

"It's not every day I expect myself to run into a sexy chick shakin' her thing," He paused, eyeing her casually before adding, "Half naked."

Evian's face reddened as she realized he had, to her distaste, seen her do something no one was ever supposed to see her doing. It was supposed to be a guilty pleasure – a very secret guilty pleasure that was usually performed after a shower, in the morning when she got ready for school, and during other random occasions. "I was not shaking my thing!" She pulled onto the bed sheets tighter, "I was like...drying myself,"

The vice captain gave her a quizzical glance, "Really..."

"Yeah. Every girl does that," She lied. "Anyways," She started, shaking her head, "You are _so _disgusting."

He seemed indifferent about the matter, "Get ready," He said to her, changing the subject, "We're going clubbing."

Forgetting that she'd been in the room all this time looking like she was at a toga party, she looked at the bluenette as if he was retarded, "What?!"

"Everyone's up at the club down the street to celebrate. Even Dakota's there. I just came back to get Hilary something warm," He held up the cardigan.

"I can't go clubbing! I've never gone clubbing! And I'm only 17!" She paused, "Dakota's here?"

"Yeah their team got here today. But only Dakota came with us. Go get ready, I'll wait."

"But I've never gone," She tilted her head to the side, "I don't wanna see naked people."

Kai couldn't believe just how outrageous the girl could be, "It's just a club, not a strip club. Look, just put on a dress, some nice heels, and we'll be good to go." He sensed her uncertainty, "Don't worry, your dad won't find out."

"Are you sure? I don't know," She made a face and her shoulders slouched, "I'm already failing calculus..."

"You deserve a night out,"

While the boy was openly flirting with her despite the fact he was in a relationship, in other words, being a man slut, Evian knew she could still trust Kai's judgement; after all, he was known for being a genius all over her high school and on this team.

**x x x**

Hilary scrolled through the phonebook in her cell phone until she spotted her boyfriend's name. This would be the fifth time she'd call him in the last thirty minutes. After the voicemail kicked in again, she flipped the cell phone furiously.

"Honestly, what the fuck!" She whispered to herself as she sipped her cocktail. She wished she'd never sent him back to the hotel because for all she knew, Evian must have been awake by now and something must have been going on between the 'stupid slut' and Kai. She made a noise of frustration and looked around the club feeling like a complete loser for standing alone at the corner. Ray and Mariah had been dancing together since the beginning and the team captain and a certain tousle haired blonde were nowhere to be seen.

As if on cue, she noticed Kai stepping into the club at last. A small smile crept across her lips as she hoped to get the bluenette's attention by tip-toeing and waving her hand. Her smile vanished however, once she noticed Kai wasn't alone. There was Evian, completely dressed up, sexed up, dolled up and looking as hot as ever. Hilary also didn't fail to take in the fact that Evian's arrival to the club most definitely caught the attention of some of the guys.

The blonde's form-fitting royal blue dress ended mid-thigh, showed off just the right amount of cleavage, and showcased her tiny waist that was to die for. Strappy and super high gunmetal grey heels adorned her pedicured feet. She had a smoky look for her eyes, done with blacks and dark greys. A long shiny grey pearly necklace completed the entire look.

To say Hilary was insecure would be a total understatement. But her blood boiled inside of her and there was a vein on her forehead that was about to pop! Who did Evian think she was? Some kind of hot shit? Did she think she could have every single guy on this planet? Did she think she could have Kai too with the aid of her big chest and perfectly textured hair? Hilary would never let that happen! The brunette finished the rest of drink, wiped her mouth with her bare arm, and marched over to what was rightfully hers'.

From the other side of the club, Evian had finally noticed Hilary. She tugged on Kai's arm and immediately the vice captain looked over his shoulder, "What?" He shouted over the music. Before Evian was even able to open her mouth to speak, Hilary had already snaked her arms around Kai, with one hand on his butt, her lips forced upon his.

Evian had a disgusted look on her face as if she had just watched a goat being slaughtered as she watched Hilary _literally _suck and chew on Kai's lips. She was even more repelled when she realized she and Kai were still holding hands! She let go right away, shaking it off. "Eww!" She instantly turned to her heel to walk off and as she was about to, the vice captain called her back.

"If she wants to go, let her go," The brunette said, still too close to Kai for Evian's comfort.

"Don't walk off like that," It seemed that Kai had completely ignored his girlfriend, "You don't have a phone or anything and if you get lost, Tala's going to kick my ass."

Evian crossed her arms, "You guys do whatever," She felt like such a friggin' third-wheel, "I'm just gonna go find Tala."

"Okay," Kai grabbed the blonde's hand with his free hand, "We'll find him together." He knew Hilary probably wasn't too happy about this and his assumption was confirmed when he felt Hilary pinch him, but as Tala's close friend and as vice-captain of the team he had a responsibility. Deep down he knew those weren't the only reasons.

There was just something about the Evian. She was so alluring. Kai always had a slight fixation with blondes, but this was different. This wasn't just a 'fixation' with some blonde chick. It was really hard to explain how he felt around Evian; he felt jittery and there was an unfamiliar floating-like feeling every single time she was near him. And he felt like telling someone about this, but who could he tell? Definitely not Tala unless he wanted a broken nose, he didn't like sharing too many things with Mariah, and of course Hilary was inevitably out of question.

"Okay," Evian gave in, her sea green orbs preoccupied by auburn ones, "How are we supposed to look?" She inquired as she eyed the super crowded club. Her slight pout portrayed her worry. Before a decision was made, Mariah and Ray had found the trio.

"Evian! You came? How are you feeling?" The pink-haired girl asked instantly.

"I'm feeling great, thanks," The blonde smiled.

Ray beamed, "You look great too,"

"Aw, thanks!"

Hilary rolled her eyes as Evian received more credit than she deserved, "Time for drinks!" She declared, raising her voice so the group could hear. As she made her way towards the bar, everyone followed.

"Let's do shots!" Mariah suggested, quickly ordering five. Once the orders came, the pink haired girl handed one to the blonde, who looked utterly lost.

"What _is_ this?" She questioned, looking over at the others.

"Take it!" Ray grinned, "Come on!"

The blonde brought the liquid close to her nose. Bad idea, "Oh my god, ew," She looked revolted, "I will seriously, like, throw up." She put a hand over her mouth as if to stop potential vomit. "I swear, what the eff is this? Rat poison?" She shuddered as she remembered the strong smell of tequila.

"Evian, this is your initiation! You have to take it!" The raven haired teen once again encouraged. She watched as Hilary counted the group down to take the shot, and they all did, with Hilary and Mariah both sucking on the slice of lemon afterwards. The boys however, seemed to handle it quite well without the use of a chaser.

"You gonna do it?" Kai approached the fair haired girl.

"Do it and what? Get wrinkles? Get fine lines? Gain weight? And get premature boob saggage!" She was engulfed in some serious horrification.

Kai rolled his eyes at the drama queen that was Tala's sister. How they were even siblings? He couldn't figure out. He took the tequila shot out of her small hands and had it for himself, "Pussy," He added.

"Yo I'm getting a Corona," Ray announced.

Leaning over the bar counter, the bluenette looked over at Ray, "Add a Heineken."

"Ev, what do you want?" The Chinese teen asked the blonde, "How about cranberry juice?"

"Um, okay," Evian was quick to agree, but absentmindedly. Her main concern as of now was looking for a certain redhead. But it proved to be a difficult task with millions of people roaming around and with smoke everywhere...

And that's when another craving panged. She tried to fight it off. _Not now,_ she convinced herself, _everyone's here._

But it literally tickled her. And with the atmosphere around her – amazing remixed music with the bass up ridiculously loud and everyone around her having fun – it was just so hard.

"Here," The raven haired boy handed her the cranberry juice.

"Thanks," She said, taking a sip, hoping this would get rid of her longing. She moved to the beat of Akon's _Troublemaker_ and desperately tried to forget about it. And that only made her angry. She watched as Ray and Kai enjoyed their beer and Mariah and Hilary their mixed alcoholic drinks. And that's when it hit her: they weren't so innocent.

_So why should I be?_ Why couldn't she have one? Drinking was much worse than just one small, tiny, insignificant, completely harmless smoke, right?

She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. Why was it such a big deal if she smoked? A lot of people her age – and younger – smoked. She wasn't smoking pot, she wasn't taking a hit of E, it was just a plain old cigarette! Jesus Christ! She wasn't getting drunk like the others, having a smoke would have no kind of effect on her mindset.

And all it took was just one guy to walk by her with a cigarette in his hands for her to give in. And that's when it hit her: why the flying fuck did she care if Ray and the others saw her? The only people she didn't want knowing was Tala and her parents. She was here to have some fucking fun! Yeah! Taking the straw out of her drink, she chugged the juice and reached into her clutch for a Belmont and her lighter.

"Whoa! Evian!"

The blonde quickly looked towards Ray, cigarette between her lips, mid-lighting. She grinned sheepishly, "Can you keep a secret, mister?"

The pink haired girl looked at the blonde, "You smoke?"

Instead of answering Mariah's question, the blonde just lit up the cigarette and laughed.

"Alright! Time to party it up!" Ray praised, grabbing both the pink haired girl as well as Evian.

The blonde raised her arms engaging in a dance with both Ray and Mariah looking as if she was having the time of her life, "_Woot_!" And the time of her life, she was most definitely having! She couldn't believe she'd never gone clubbing before. Well, she never really had the guts to get a fake I.D. and do all this and of course, she would probably never be allowed to stay out this late.

Everyone in here was here for just one purpose: to have fun! Drunken people, people who were high off different substances, couples and random strangers grinding on each other, oh man; the feeling of being so _free_ was indescribable for Evian. Everyone was focused on doing their own thing, no one was looking at her, no one was looking at anyone!

Well, almost no one.

From where he was standing, Kai looked at the blonde strangely. Was she not freaking out about going clubbing just a few minutes ago? Yet, here she was, once again exposing an unforeseen side of rebellion. With a cigarette in her mouth, looking completely tenacious, she gave off the impression of being a party girl.

Okay, so it wasn't a good thing to be a party animal but while Hilary was merely grinding her behind on the bluenette, Evian was just portraying so much more exuberance without the need of a man, moving her waist to the bass line, smiling, shouting the lyrics to _Sexy Bitch _with Mariah, and it really made Kai wish he was...single.

And ready to mingle.

With Evian.

Once he realized how wrong that was, he quickly finished his beer, ordered another one, and tried to concentrate on his brunette girlfriend.

"More shots!" Mariah yelled, ordering more fuel for the group; this excluded Evian.

A million drinks, groping, touching, kissing, hugging, and all that good stuff later – which evidently Evian was not a part of and this mostly applied to the couple of the team – the blonde finally turned towards Ray, "What time is it?" She shouted over the music into his ear.

"Only 2 AM,"

Evian's eyes widened, "We have to get home! I've never been out this late!"

"Chill!" Ray chuckled, "Let me get one more drink,"

"Are you sure? Are you drunk? Are you going to be okay?" She flung a zillion questions.

"Yeah, yeah, no problem, I'm fine. I'm not even tipsy." He reassured.

"Um, okay," She wasn't too sure about Ray's statement, to be honest, "I just wanna find Tala." Even though she was with Ray, Mariah, Kai, and Hilary she'd feel much safer and comfortable with her own brother this late at night. Ray nodded in agreement and after purchasing his last drink, they were finally on the hunt for the red-headed captain.

Walking around the club proved to be a difficult task with a crowd of overly intoxicated people. "There's Dakota over there," Evian looked over where Kai directed his head and sure enough, there was a tousle-haired blonde grinding up against some guy.

"That's not Dakota!" Evian made a face, "Dakota would never do stuff like that," She could hear Ray laugh out loud from behind her as she watched closely. The chick was dressed in a black halter dress with a satin red waistband and a pair of black patent leather pumps pulled out the look. She and the boy she was with were getting _really_ dirty on the dance floor. "There's no way!"

"Don't be so naive babes," This came from Mariah as she pulled her closer toward the couple. As they got closer, Evian tried to deny the facts more and more. For God's sake, the two were practically fucking with their clothes on. "See?" Ray said, stopping just inches away from what was, in fact, Dakota and Tala. Evian cringed.

The feeling she had when she smelled the tequila just a few hours ago lingered back, this time ten times worse, "Oh my god...Oh _my _god! OH! MY! GOD! EWW! OH MY GOD! GROSS!" Her yelling made a couple of people turn heads.

Startled, Tala, who was completely red-faced – half of it due to too much alcohol for the night and half of it out of embarrassment – stopped groping Dakota right away.

"Well," Dakota started, scratching her head, "This is a little awkward..."

Evian coughed slightly and covered her mouth, "I think I just puked a little bit in my mouth,"

"Now _that's_ gross," The captain looked over at his sister, "Oh come on, relax, you could have seen worse," The red-head grinned.

Evian closed her eyes and turned her head away and stuck out her palm, "Please, please, just shut up, I don't want to know." Seeing her own brother get his freak on – well, for her, it was close to that – with some girl was way worse than walking in on her parents.

"Sorry Evian! I didn't know you were going to be here," Dakota offered, "But we were only dancing..."

_Dancin' ma ass, honey!_

"Okay! Let's get home!" Tala took a step forward and stumbled, "And whoa I'm a little buzzed," He laughed it off as Ray came to his aid.

"How are you the good twin again?" Evian muttered, following Ray and Tala closely behind with Dakota by her side. As they walked towards the exit thoughts stirred up for Evian. She didn't necessarily like the fact that Tala had been with a girl; it just reminded her about how fast he was growing up. Sure, they were twins, but she felt older than him and looked at him as a younger brother. To her, two minutes made a huge difference. She felt as if it was just yesterday when she had the upper hand, always looking out for him.

_You're growing up too_, the voice in her head tried to make her realize. Yes, she was, but she felt like the same twelve-year-old girl she used to be so many years ago while Tala was maturing, applying for university, getting way too physically close to a girl, drinking, partying, building his future, and all that kind of stuff people did in the process of growing up. As people grow, they change, but Evian felt as if she hadn't changed at all. She hadn't experienced a relationship with the opposite sex, she wasn't prepared for post-secondary education, she'd never 'partied' – there was nothing about her that was 'grown up'.

Evian felt a pair of arms on her shoulders, "Ready to go?" She looked over to see Dakota behind her and nodded once she noticed they were already outside. Once at the hotel, Kai helped Mariah and Hilary into their rooms and tucked his girlfriend into bed. It was pretty obvious Mariah and Hilary were completely wasted. Evian headed straight for the bathroom as soon as they got in.

"Stay with me!" The brunette whined, trying to pull Kai into her bed.

He resisted and tried to move away, "I can't," He freed himself from Hilary's grip.

The drunken brunette rolled over to her side, "Bet if Evian asked," She yawned, "You'd say yes." Kai ignored the statement and proceeded to leave. He didn't want to deal with whatever nonsense she was bringing up about other girls. As he left, someone followed him into the corridor.

"Kai!"

He turned around upon hearing his name being called out in a loud whisper. It was Evian. She stood there barefoot, with her heels in her hands. He raised an eyebrow; what could she possibly want?

"I just wanted to thank you for today," She said, "You know, after what happened at the stadium."

"Oh,"

"Yeah," She nodded, and then, "And oh, don't worry about what happened today," She referred to the 'half naked and shakin' her thing' incident, "Better you than my own brother!" She laughed, clearly attempting to make the matters of the day less awkward for the two. There was a silence for a few minutes as they both looked at the ground, "So are you going to go to sleep now?"

"I guess. It's late."

"Yeah,"

"Aren't you gonna sleep?" He inquired, leaning against the wall.

"I don't know," She shrugged, "I'm not really tired, I mean I slept so much today!" She chuckled.

He thought for a couple of seconds, and then, "I saw a dessert cafe on our way back. It's still open."

Evian looked at the bluenette as if he was mentally retarded, "Seriously?"

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Evian found herself seated in said dessert café eating away a super decadent slice of chocolate mousse cake. There were a few others in the café, some of them bladers themselves, others who just lived nearby, and the like. "This is such a cute place!" The blonde grinned.

Kai took a sip of his fifth Heineken of the night and watched his friend's sister savour her chocolaty treat.

"You know," She started, "I've never stayed out this late but it's kind of fun, don't you think?"

The vice captain shrugged, finishing off the rest of his drink before raising his hand to motion for the waiter, "Can I get a jagerbomb?"

Once the waiter left to get his order, Evian eyed Kai, "Are you gonna be okay? I don't know how to get back to the hotel myself."

"Don't worry," He watched the waiter come back with his order, "I'll be fine." With that, he downed the drink in literally three seconds flat. He shook his head quickly, ridding the sudden effects of the drink.

While it seemed like Kai was having the time of his life – sort of – Evian was mildly horrified. "So, is Hilary going to know about this?" The blonde questioned, licking some of the mousse off her spoon.

Kai leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head, "Not if you don't want Tala finding out about you smoking."

"I'll take that as a no," Evian concluded, "So how are you and Hilary doing?"

"We're okay."

"How long have you guys been going out?"

"Almost a year," He subconsciously played with the salt shaker that was on the table.

"Aw, that's totally cute," She smiled. There was silence for a while as she continued at her slice of cake, looking here and there randomly to avoid awkwardness.

"So," Kai started.

"Yeah?" She eyed the vice captain.

"I was really impressed by the battle today,"

Evian looked ecstatic right away, "Really!" It was so hard to believe Kai was actually being nice to her and that he was actually 'impressed'. He'd been so mean to her since the day she joined the team, calling her all sorts of names.

"You still have a long way to go," He added and watched her nod in agreement, "But it was a good battle."

"I can't believe I have a bit beast," She disclosed, "It's so weird."

"Everyone's surprised. You're still a beginner; you've been blading for how long? Two months max? To get a bit beast this early is pretty rare."

"Oh," She said, "But I still don't know a thing about beyblading. How am I supposed to handle a bit beast?"

"Where's your beyblade?"

She searched through her purse, "Here." Her eyes widened when he took it apart.

"Relax," He told her, "You need to know the parts."

"I had no idea a beyblade was even made out of parts," She confessed, earning a 'what-the-fuck' look from Kai.

"Okay," He picked up a component, "This is the attack ring. This is the first part that comes into contact with your opponent's beyblade so it's obviously important." As she bobbed her head up and down, he picked up another piece, "This is your weight disk and yours' is really light, which is why you're able to go so fast. But you need to remember, this _can_ work to your disadvantage with heavier beyblades. That's why in your other battles, people took you out so easily but you need to know how to use it to your benefit."

"How do I do that?"

"With practice," He pulled out his own beyblade and undid the parts, "I have the same problem."

"Wow," Evian was slightly astonished. Along with her brother, she knew – from rumours and observations – that Kai was one of the best beybladers in the sport and she could never imagine someone like him to have an issue in the beyblading department – or any department for that matter; he just seemed so flawless. And for him to actually admit an imperfection was another thing.

"In order to counter the issue, you obviously need to have a lot of speed," He suddenly looked at her, "How would you do that?"

"Uh," She was hoping he'd just answer for her, but when he didn't, she went a little red. _Fuck he looks so cute, _she thought to herself. He looked better than her chocolate cake, for lord's sake. Whether he tasted better than the cake was a completely different subject Evian was for sure not going to touch.

"I know you know, you're not that stupid, Blondie." He gave her a hard stare, waiting for her to say something, "What makes the beyblade spin?"

"Um, when you launch it?" She looked unsure.

"Exactly," He approved, "So for your beyblade to have enough endurance, what do you need?"

_I have no effing idea, man. _Nonetheless, she continued with her answers, "A good launch?"

He continued to stare at her, partly to fool her and to some extent because he just didn't want to take his eyes off her, "Like I said," He continued, "You're not that stupid." He put together her beyblade, "So the main thing you need to work on before anything else is your launch."

"Oh,"

"Why do you think Tala is always so particular about your launch? He knows what he's doing and he already knew what your problem was from the start. But he must have a lot of faith in you to get you such an advanced beyblade as your first."

"Now it all makes sense," She placed a finger on her bottom lip, deep in thought, "Thanks, Kai!" He continued to provide her with knowledge about the sport and before they knew it, they were out of the cafe and their walk back proved to be just as amusing.

"Can I ask you something?" The blonde wasn't entirely sure if she should have. But like most of the time, wonder got the best of her and she was even more interested in how he was going to answer the question she really wanted to ask. She knew that whatever she wanted to ask was a little stupid, but she couldn't help it. Maybe talking things out would allow them to be 'friends'. Maybe if he saw how open she was able to be, he'd open up too. It worked with everyone else all the time.

"If it's not personal, sure," Was his reply.

She chuckled, "No, no its not," She brushed her bangs away from her forehead, "I just wanted to ask why it's so hard for us to just be normal and friendly around each other?" At this, he raised an eyebrow almost as if he didn't know what she was talking about, "Well you know," The blonde attempted to go into more details, "You've kind of been..." Evian tried to search for the right words, "For lack of words, you've kind of been a jerk. No offence!"

He was quiet for a couple of seconds and Evian was positive he was mad and just ignoring her for calling him a name, but then, "You know, you're a straight up kinda person," She knew damn well he was going to say something mean to her, instead, it was followed by something extremely unexpected, "That's kinda hot."

"Oh, um, okay," Evian said uneasily. She was trying to have a serious conversation with him, trying to create some kind of bond with him. Obviously he was taking some other route.

"No I'm serious," He said, "It's a good quality. Girls should be more straight up. We don't always know what you're thinking; it's not like we're the guys from _Harry Potter _where we can just read a chick's mind." Suddenly, he heard her laugh, "What?"

"I totally can_not_ just believe you compared yourself to Harry Potter. I'm sorry, that's just hilarious," She continued crack up.

"What? I'm not as sexy as him?"

She rolled her eyes and shoved him in a playful fashion, "You're such a butthead Kai, I swear."

He gave her a comical look, "Did you just call me a butthead? No one's called me a butthead since...the second grade."

Evian grinned, "Maybe not to your face..."

Kai inwardly smirked; the girl was just _too_ damn naive. She was using names such as 'butthead' for God's sake, it just really didn't get more ingenuous than that. She was so unlike any other girl he had met. Evian was so blonde and so _girly_. And to think this was someone who was directly related to Tala was unbelievable. The fact that they were twins was even more freaky. They really were two completely different individuals, something he – and everyone else – failed to recognize.

He didn't even know Tala had a sister until recently. He could never in a million years even guess it would have been the perky girl sitting in his calculus class all along. In their high school itself, there were many rumours about them being a couple or cousins or distant relatives or maybe even friends and only very few knew they were siblings.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?"

The blonde interrupted his trail of reflections. That's when he realized they were already at the hotel, on their floor, right in front of their doors.

"Yeah," He nodded, reaching for his key card, "Goodnight," He said casually.

"'Night!" She flashed a smile before disappearing into the room she shared with Hilary and Mariah.

**x x x**

It was a little past eleven in the morning. Team captain Tala sat on the edge of his bed as he flipped through the channels on the television, stopping on the BBA News. They were currently talking about Category B teams, something which didn't apply to him or his team.

"What are plans for today?" This came from Kai as he stepped out of the washroom, towel-drying his hair.

"I don't know," The redhead answered, "Whatever my dad says." Both boys watched the news for a few more minutes until...

"Last night our BBA Couples' Radar spotted Kai and Evian of The Skittles all dressed up making their way to a club in London," The sassy reported detailed, "And of course, as always, we have exclusive pictures of the two!" Images of the blonde and Kai spilled over the television screen as they headed over to said club, hand in hand, jay walking across a street, "However, we still don't know for sure if they're officially going out but a picture says a thousand words!"

Inside, Kai's heart nearly skipped a beat or two; he felt mortified, but made sure to keep to his composure. He felt so uncomfortable being in the same room as Tala, Evian's _brother_.

"It's cool man," The redhead broke the silence, "I know these paparazzi have no life and the only way they can make a damn living is by making shit up."

Kai mentally sighed in relief once Tala took the news lightly and unimportantly, "I didn't even fucking know they were taking pictures." He was a little angered, "And I have a girlfriend. They did this to me last year too with some next girl named Rene." Luckily he and Evian weren't seen when they headed to the cafe late last night.

Standing up, Tala shut off the television, "Girlfriend or no girlfriend," He started, eyeing Kai, "I know you'd never do that to me, man. I trust you with my life."

As Tala started walking off towards the door, Kai turned around, "Never do what to you?"

"Chop my sister," With the clarification, Tala left the room. He made his towards the girls' room and knocked on the door. Within seconds, Hilary had let him in, "How are you guys doing?" He asked as he made his way over to Evian who was, unsurprisingly, still asleep tightly holding on to a pillow on her side as usual.

"Major hangover," The pink haired girl admit, "I've taken two Tylenol's so far." The girl sighed as she made her way into the washroom to fix her hair.

The redhead towered over his sleeping twin. She looked so peaceful and serene in her sleep, like always. It was as if she never had nightmares especially those from a truly dark past. He zoned out for a little bit as he reminisced about some of the things he had encountered in his life, things so horrible, no one could ever imagine.

Things that Evian had no idea about.

He stared into the palm of his hands that used to be covered in blood occasionally and the most disturbing part of all was the fact that most of the time it wasn't even his own blood.

_It's just not fair..._ He continued to reflexively eye his sister. He wondered why he had to go through all those things resulting in a shattered child hood while Evian got to do normal things when she was younger, like play with toys, go outside to the park, go to her friend's house, and just have fun. He loved Evian unconditionally, but at times like this he felt resentful towards her. Why did his father pick him to go to boarding school; why not her?

Without further ado, he tried to forget about it all. "Evian?"

There was no response from the blonde. She was a heavy sleeper and everyone in the MaCaffery family was fully aware of that. He sat himself on the perimeter of the mattress and placed a hand on her arm to proceed to nudge her gently, "Time to wake up."

She groaned, "Oh my god!" She scrunched her face up in annoyance, "Two more minutes." She buried her face into her pillow.

"You have to get up now, dad's waiting for all of us downstairs," He tried to reason.

"I slept late last night," She mumbled.

"We all did, you don't see us complaining."

"Yeah but Kai and I went out again after you guys went to bed."

Tala furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing what Evian had just said, "_What_?" He forcefully yanked his sister by the arm and pulled her into a sitting position.

"You're such an asshole, Tala!" She kicked her other half on the bum, but not too hard. She sat there, with blonde strands all over her face, eyebrows furrowed, and eyes still half closed.

"You and _Kai_ went out last night? What the fuck? Where?"

"Shut up!" Evian placed a hand over the redhead's mouth, "He doesn't want Hilary to know." She whispered.

Tala glanced over his shoulder; Hilary must have been in the washroom as well, fixing her hair just like Mariah. He looked back at the blonde, "Where did you guys go?" He spoke in a quiet voice.

"Some dessert place. Oh my God, Tala, they're cake was seriously amazing," She grinned. But he pressed on, he wanted to know exactly what happened, and so she told him like she always told him everything.

"Okay, well," The redhead exhaled out loudly, "I guess you don't know these things and I know he was just being nice but it's not right for you to just go out with him like that, especially that late at night."

"We only went for a while and he was telling me about beyblading, that's all."

"I know," While he concealed how he really felt about the matter, he was rather shocked that Kai, of all guys, had done such a thing. But he knew he had to let it slide. Besides, Kai was vice captain and Evian did mention he was talking to her about beyblading, so maybe he was only doing what he was supposed to. "But just let me know next time before you decide to go out with him," He paused, "Or with any guy."

"Excuse me?" The blonde crossed her arms, "I don't have to tell you anything. You don't tell me ever when you're going out with girls. And what in the world were you and Dakota doing last night? That was so disgusting. I can't believe I'm your sister. You're nasty."

Tala rolled his eyes; he knew Evian had gotten the point, "Just get up. I'm going downstairs, Blondie."

Eventually everyone, including Evian, was finally downstairs. Due to sleeping in, everyone had missed breakfast and was having lunch instead.

"My little angel," Mr. MaCaffery looked over at his daughter and smiled, "I'm so proud of you."

Hearing those words for virtually the first time was like a dream for Evian. She was so used to hearing her parents say that phrase to Tala. She'd waited so long to hear those magic words. How she felt, she just couldn't describe and no words came out of her mouth. All she could do was smile and breathe. It was as if some kind of invisible weight – made up of standards – was finally lifted off her. She wondered how sooner her parents would have been 'proud' of her if she picked up beyblading when she was younger.

"You made front page," He handed her the copy of the newspaper. She eagerly read the headline which described her incredible win from the day before. She continued skimming through the article happily. That was until she got to the second paragraph.

She gasped, startling a few at the table. She looked up at her team, Tala in particular, "They called me the badass twin!" She threw the newspaper on the table in rage. Those 'standards' that had just been lifted off her literally came crashing back. It wasn't enough for just her family and relatives and some friends to know that Tala was the good twin and she was the bad twin, was it? The whole world had to know too?

"What do you expect to be called," Ray laughed, being the first person to make a comment, "You beat the living daylights out of some guy! Besides, being called badass is a good thing, _own_ it!"

"Yeah," Tala agreed, "I bet this was a first for the BBA. And to think you did it all for me!" He grinned.

But none of these remarks helped the blonde girl. She was so terribly upset! And so livid! She just couldn't understand how everyone around her thought Tala was the 'good' one. She really couldn't. What was so good about him? And what the hell was so bad about her? Nonetheless, she heaved a sigh, "I guess." She knew there was nothing she could do about this and the only thing left to do was to let it go. But it was so hard.

"Now on to more important things," Mr. MaCaffery started, "Today is going to be a very busy day." He announced.

"Where are we headed for?" Tala questioned.

"We're leaving for France tonight," The brown haired man answered.

"France, really?" Mariah spoke, "Our grandparents live there." She informed.

"_My_ grandparents, actually," Kai was quick to correct the pink haired girl, "My real dad's parents."

"I know, I was just saying..." And this was all that came from Mariah.

"That's great news; I'm looking forward to meet them, Kai." Mr. MaCaffery said, "Do you know where they live?"

"I know they're near Paris," The vice captain contemplated, "But I don't know where exactly."

"Okay, I'll give Grace a call before we leave," Mr. MaCaffery referred to Kai's mother, "I'll get the address. Anyways, before we go to France, we've been offered to participate for a photo shoot."

Evian's head shot up right away and it appeared as if she'd completely forgotten about the article she read earlier, "A photo shoot? Like a real photo shoot with cameras and photographers?"

"Mmhmm," Mr. MaCaffery nodded, "It's for the Career Blade magazine. I haven't gotten back to them because I wanted to discuss it with the team first, mainly the captain and vice captain." With that, he eyed both Tala and Kai, "What do you say?"

The redhead and bluenette glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders, "I don't have a problem with it." Tala said.

"Neither do I," Kai added, confirming the decision to go ahead with the photo shoot. After all, he was already accustomed to this from last year.

Evian clasped her hands together, "This is going to be _so_ cool!"

"It's settled then," Mr. MaCaffery said, "I'll let them know we'll be coming. The photo shoot is scheduled for 3 PM so please make sure you're all ready."

For the next few hours, everyone just tried to kill off time. Kai and Hilary headed off somewhere, Tala decided to give Dakota a call, Mariah dragged Ray to watch a movie, leaving Evian by herself. But she didn't mind – she was way too excited.

Luckily everyone got ready in time. Mr. MaCaffery called two taxis to pick them up and before they knew it, they were dropped off at the studio.

"Hello boys and girls," The director reached them, the photographer and other workers closely behind him, "My name is Glendale and I'm so glad you made it! You guys are the perfect team to represent this month's issue of Career Blade! So let's get started!"

The team was separated, by gender, for hair, make-up and all that jazz. It took about an hour to get set up before they were ready to stand in front of the camera.

"Everyone's looking good!" Glendale commented.

"Where's Evian?" Tala questioned, immediately noticing the missing blonde.

"She'll be joining us in a second!" Glendale reassured. The redhead nodded in understanding. He had to agree with the director, they did look good. But everyone was wearing something distinguishable. Tala himself was dressed in a white wife beater and jeans; Ray was made up to be some kind of hunky lumberjack with the signature red and black checkered shirt; Kai was made to look the chicest out of all the guys, dressing in black dress pants with a tucked in black shirt with white pin stripes; his sleeves were rolled up a little bit and a grey skinny tie finished off his look. As for the girls, Mariah had on bright lime coloured frock that reached her knees and her hair was tied into a half ponytail. Hilary, being the un-girly one, was dressed in a pair of black capris and a light orange V-neck cami.

After a few more minutes, Evian made an appearance. And when she did, Tala's jaw dropped, "What the hell!" No one on the team failed to see the notable difference between themselves and her. She was standing out like a sore thumb.

But that's not what bothered Tala; he didn't necessarily care how much his sister was 'standing out'...it's just the _way _she was standing out; she was attired in a pair of white frilly boy shorts, which obviously showed way too much skin, especially for a brother. Her top consisted of a baby pink full sleeve – and it would have been fine if it was just that, but it wasn't: the top exposed a little bit of her midriff. Her glossy blonde hair was let down like normal and she had a little bit of mascara on her lashes and a lustrous pink gloss embellished her lips.

"I had no idea we were posing for Playboy," Tala's voice trickled with evident sarcasm.

"I think we can all agree your darling sister looks as cute as a button! Perfect combination of naughty and nice!"

The redhead looked disgusted, "Really, that's not necessary..." Having his very own sister made up to be some sort of sex symbol was definitely not comforting for the redhead.

Or their father.

"Oh," Mr. MaCaffery also looked slightly disturbed, "I didn't know you were going to dress my daughter up like this."

"I think," Mariah started, "Evian looks seriously hot!"

And look hot she most definitely did. And this posed to be a problem for a certain slate-haired teen in the team. In the back of his head he knew why, but he tried to deny it. Besides, there were bigger things to take care of...

...like hide his totally obvious boner.

Kai desperately tried to hide the _thing_, hoping no one would see. Especially Hilary. It was so hard to keep his cool knowing there was a bulge between his legs. He tried to think about his calculus teacher, Mr. Earl, in a leopard printed thong, but it seemed like the thought of Evian was way more powerful than that. _Shit_, he cursed in his head. It was as if his eyes were literally crazy glued to the super hot blonde – that could have been mistaken for a Victoria's Secret model with the way she was dressed – standing just a few feet away from him.

She was such a tease. She was so close, yet so far, almost naked, yet still clothed, single, yet untouchable. He could not, for the love of God, stop fantasizing about ripping those damn panties off her with the rest of her clothes and getting it on with her right against a friggin' wall. He just wanted to put his hands all over her gorgeous glistening olive skin.

When he realized that was never going to happen, he snapped out of it. At the same time, he become conscious about just how improper all those thoughts were. What was wrong with him? He didn't know. Sure, Evian looked irresistible, but didn't Megan Fox, Lucy Liu, and Halle Berry also look enticing? The only difference was, Evian literally made his mouth water. She got him tripping so badly.

_I have a girlfriend_, he tried to rationalize with himself. The other half of his conscious – probably the devil on his shoulder – begged to differ: _There's nothing wrong with a little a healthy dose of lust._

Whatever 'healthy dose' meant...

"Tala, shut up, I can see your man boobs through that thing," Evian broke right through Kai's thoughts, "Besides, I think I look fine just like Mariah said!"

"I'm a _guy_," Tala said in a matter-of-factly way, "And they aren't man boobs, they're pecks; I work out."

"Nipples are nipples!" The blonde countered.

"Honey, I think," Mr. MaCaffery made a face, "Maybe if you pull your top down a little. Or maybe wear a cardigan over it. Or something."

"I think she should go put a bed sheet on herself!" Tala exclaimed. "Or I'll throw up."

"Would you shut up?" Evian rolled her eyes, "And if you need to barf then no problem, there are buckets available!"

Glendale laughed, "Okay everyone, time for the real photo shoot!" The director played around with the positioning and poses until he was satisfied. "This looks amazing!" He threw about a million comments, most likely to motivate the group. "Gorgeous! Okay guys, ten minute break! Then we'll take a few more!"

The team dispersed in different directions, with some getting a drink, some heading to the washroom and the like. Mr. MaCaffery tried to talk Glendale out of Evian's outfit and dreadfully tried to get him to change his mind to let his daughter wear something a little more appropriate for a seventeen year old.

Meanwhile, the blonde had made her way to the snack table. _Baby carrots? No. Coke? No. _Like always, decision making was a difficult task for her. Finally, she picked out a chocolate chip cookie; it looked way too scrumptious to pass out.

"Well I just got back from vomiting,"

Evian turned around to see Tala, "You're such a dick, Tala!"

"At least I have one!"

The blonde wrinkled her nose and raised her arm with her palm facing outward in revolted gesture, "K, ew,"

"Yeah, imagine how I must feel with you wearing a goddamn napkin."

"It's not a napkin, you idiot." The blonde whacked her twin over the head, "Besides, it's just a photo shoot; it's not like this is what I'd normally wear." After the break, the photographers, Glendale, and The Skittles went back to work.

"Okay, this is what I want," Glendale started, "Evian, you stand here, Kai, go next to her, then Mariah, then Tala, then Hilary, and finally, Ray." He had completely changed up the line up and this change made Hilary send Evian a daunting glare, kind of like a 'touch-my-man-and-die' look.

Glendale made Ray hold Hilary by the waist – in a friendly way, Mariah was told to prop up one elbow on Tala's shoulder with the other hand on her hip while the redhead had his hands in his pockets.

"And you two," The director approached Evian and Kai, "Okay, here's what you're gonna do; you face away from Evian a little, cross your arms," He then looked over at the blonde, deep in thought, "Alright, tip toe a little bit with your legs a kind of crossed and put your hands here," He took her hands and placed them on the bluenette's shoulders, "Beautiful!" He took a couple of steps back to see the entire pose of the team, "Evian darling, stick out your behind a little, please."

"Like this?"

"Exactly! Now give me that I'm-a-virgin smile!"

As Tala literally gagged at the director's description, Evian did what she was told, providing a provocative pose, a cute smile, and unknowingly sexually tantalizing Kai even more than ever before.

"Everyone smile and look like you're having fun!" Once again the cameras went off and after a few more minutes, the session had come to an end. "This is going to be the best cover this year! Thank you guys so much!"

Finally it was time to head back to the hotel, pack up, and leave for Paris, France. The team was currently at the airport, waiting for their flight. Tala was texting away at his cell phone, most likely to Dakota and maybe some other friends from Toronto, Mariah and Ray were looking over a magazine, Hilary was seated in one of the seats with Kai resting his head on her shoulder, and Mr. MaCaffery was on the phone with Kai's mother.

Meanwhile, Evian walked into a nearby coffee shop to get herself an iced cappuccino to keep herself awake. She waited in line for a few minutes before finally being able to make her order, "Merci!" She grinned, thanking the cashier using practically the only French word she knew. She grabbed her drink and whirled around and as she did, she slammed into the customer behind her. "Oh my gosh, I'm like _so_ sorry!" She said quickly, hoping whoever it was spoke some English.

The person she had bumped into was a boy, about a year or two older than her. He was tall, almost as tall as Tala. Evian couldn't help but notice an uncanny resemblance of this boy to Kai. He too, had blue hair but in just one dark shade. He had the exact same auburn eyes as the vice captain of her team and even his bone structure and skin tone was nearly the same. Unlike the blue shark fins that Kai had, however, this boy had two black smears on his cheeks like a football player. Perhaps the most prominent similarity between him and Kai was the fact that he was as equally drop dead gorgeous as Kai and left Evian gawking, "Sorry, you just look like some guy I know," She laughed a little.

The boy smiled, "It's okay," He had an American – or maybe even Canadian – accent.

Wanting to desperately talk to him longer, the blonde decided to introduce herself, "I'm Evian,"

The boy continued smiled, "Pierre," He said, extending out his hand, "Pierre Hiwatari."

"Oh, okay!" She grinned, preparing to walk off, "Hope to see you again!" With that she took off. _Pierre! Such a cute name!_ She thought to herself as she walked back towards her team sipping on her iced cappuccino.

"What are you so happy about?" The redhead questioned.

"I just saw _the_ hottest effing piece of ass!" Her declaration had caught the attention of her entire team. "His name was Pierre Hiwatari! What do you think about Evian Hiwatari? Or Evian MaCaffery-Hiwatari?"

And that's when it hit her. She stopped dead in her tracks. She dared to catch a glimpse of the vice captain, and sure enough Kai had his eyes locked onto her. Evian just literally wanted to _die_.

Oh how awkward this was.

* * *

**Hello my lovely ladies – and gentlemen. It's been a long ass time. I guess I owe everyone an explanation for my '3-year-leave'. **

**School – **Yes, I am finally in university now. First year was rough, I didn't know anything about anything, I didn't even know what GPA was, my roommates were absolutely horrible...then I got suspended – yes, I know; and I cannot even begin to tell you how much weight I lost and how much hair I lost and how much dignity went right out the window and my parents' reaction was priceless and very depressing – and now I'm back in. Yup, post secondary education is definitely a kick in the ass because frankly they don't care how good or bad you do! They just want your dolla dolla bills y'all.

**Boyfriend – **Oh how I wish I was single. You don't understand. Ugh. At the time I thought he was Mr. Right. Now I can see he is Mr. Oh-So-VERY-Wrong. Help.

**Life in general – **Like I mentioned in my note, I never forgot about this story. It really is like my journal. I express some of the issues in this story that I've gone through or am going through. Some of the characters are loosely based on real life people. But after I got a boyfriend, I kind of just stopped writing – I didn't feel the need to. And it always made me feel like there was something incomplete and missing from my life, and that is this story.

**Boys in general – **Oh ma gawd. Let's not even start here. Did you know that almost all boys are perverts and will not, for the effing love of god, leave you alone, even if you spell it out for them? Well I didn't know. Such annoying creatures, I tell you.

**Anyways! It's great to be back! I really wasn't expecting so much feedback! And you have no idea HOW great it makes me feel that people are still out there – even old readers!!!! – still wanting me to continue this fic! It's honestly one of the best feelings in the world. **

**Please review!!! If you have any questions, ask! Tell me something about yourselves as well! Lol! And let me know if this chapter was crap and if I've lost the 'magic'. **

**And thanks to...**

**Smiffy**

**Bullwolf238**

**zeratheliger**

**Miss Dace**

**Sumi x3**

**Feeding Ground**

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**Anei**

**SharinganHikari**

**Crying Sorceress **(OMG it's been so long since I've heard from you! So good to know you're still here! AND CONTINUE YOUR STORIES!)

**Giggleberrie**

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**fagulust **(Yup! I remember you! Your previous name was Majirdiu!!! Welcome back!!!!)


	27. Chapter 27

__

I just want, I just want love.

**DLS **_27 _(Sorry if the formatting is weird; fanfic was being weird, the quote in the beginning wasn't going in the middle neither were the scene change signs....how annoying)

_Oh my god! Just start apologizing! No! Pretend to faint! Run away! Oh my god..._ Evian couldn't believe how stupid she could be! Maybe Tala and everyone else around her were right about her being too blonde for her own good! The entire team gazed at her as if she was a mad woman and Hilary looked as if she was about to strangle the blonde for using her boyfriend's name in vain.

She was so ridiculously embarrassed and in such disbelief that she herself made things so awkward for her! She felt as if she accidentally swallowed a fly or dry swallowed a pill and it was caught in her throat. She soon realized it wasn't just a feeling; she had choked on her drink. She hastily handed the redhead beside her the iced cappuccino and coughed a couple of times.

"Careful Evian!" Tala was quick to react, hitting the blonde on the back a few times to help her recover. "And that little story wasn't funny."

"It's not a story! I met him," She paused for a cough, "when I got my drink! I swear the god!" She suddenly felt a presence standing in front of her. It was Hilary and Evian knew just how enraged she must have been judging by the look on her face, "I'm really sorry!" She apologized as fast as possible hoping the brunette wouldn't beat her to a pulp. Wouldn't _you_ be scared of a chick that was so intimidating and always dressed like a boy with faded jeans and a band tee?

"You are such a slut-faced hoe-bag," Hilary spat, "I can't stand you. I never wanted you on this team because I knew what kind of a girl you were. I didn't like you the very first day Kai introduced me to you and I hate you even more right now. Find your own boyfriend. Kai's mine. If I ever hear you mention his name again, look at him, or even talk to him, I will fucking kick your ass. So watch yourself."

"Okay! Whoa! Girls!" Ray stepped in, "Calm down! Come on!"

"I'm not lying! I really met some guy named Pierre with the same last name as Kai! Why would I lie?"

"Why would you lie? Same reason you tried to steal Kai's beyblade at the hospital."

Before Evian could open her mouth to say something, Tala interfered, "Look, she said sorry. Leave her alone." He cautioned the brunette. Hilary muttered something under her breath before going back to her original seat. As for Kai, he looked downright pissed off at the blonde. She had never ever seen him so mad before, not even when she 'stole' his beyblade. Even though she eyed him apologetically, he took one last look at Evian before getting up and storming off in utter fury.

"Great," Evian looked down and spoke quietly, "Now he hates me all over again." She worked so hard to try to get him to like her – as a friend – and just when things were finally turning out for the better, especially after last night, she had to ruin it herself with her big fat mouth. It hurt so much for her to know how angry he was just because of something she said.

"Evian, you've got to stop getting in between their relationship."

"But I didn't do anything!" She cried out, "Honest to God Tala, Pierre is a real guy I met."

"Okay fine, just shut up about it." He felt the blonde embrace him and bury her face into his neck so she wouldn't have to face anyone anymore. He patted her on the head with his free hand, "Just try to stay out of trouble, Blondie."

Mr. MaCaffery came back a few minutes later when he was done conversing with Kai's mother about his grandparents' whereabouts. At about the same time their flight was ready for takeoff. After bribing a young female flight attendant with some extra money – and his looks – Kai was able to get about five or six shots of vodka in one glass.

Tala looked at the vice captain ridiculously, "Kai, seriously? It's a short ride, man." Instead of getting a reply, he watched the slate haired teen chug the thing down as if it were water. The entire swig gave him the immediate buzz he wanted. He closed his eyes and leaned against Hilary and tried to fall asleep.

Like the night before at the cafe, Evian looked petrified, "Is he going to be okay?" She whispered to the redhead.

"He's gonna be a little fucked for sure," Tala concluded, "But he'll be fine." Within two hours, they were already in the capital of France. The effects of alcohol were almost gone for Kai, but Mariah and Hilary still tended to him, giving him some coffee.

But the blonde couldn't help but be concerned about the vice captain's well-being, "Tala, are you sure he's okay?"

"He's good, stop worrying."

"Okay everyone!" Mr. MaCaffery started, "Instead of staying at a hotel, Kai's grandparents were kind enough to let us stay with them."

Evian remembered reading some of the contents in the mysterious black folder from a while back that Stardust left her with; it clearly stated Kai's grandparents were extremely rich and had a lot of property. She wondered what their house might have looked like.

Once there, the blonde's eyes widened and her mouth hung open. So did everyone else's. This was no house – it was a damn castle! It was three or four times the size of their high school – no fucking joke – and the property itself could have fit into ten football fields.

"Your grandparents live _here_," Ray's voice was a mere squeak as he took in the breathtaking sight. The 'house' was very modernized, done in whites and such and looked very clean cut. This was unlike any of them had ever seen, this was a place meant for a celebrity! Good Lord!

Finally an elderly man and woman came out of the mansion, "You made it!" They immediately reached out for Kai and the endless hugs and kisses began. Before acknowledging the rest of the team, the two spoke to their grandson for a few seconds in French, asking him how he was and how much he'd grown and how good looking he'd become. The man turned towards Mr. MaCaffery, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Brandon,"

"Likewise, Donatien," The brown haired man smiled, shaking hands with Kai's grandfather and then his grandmother, "And you, Alais. Thank you so much for letting us stay here."

"No, thank _you_," Alais started. Donatien and Alais both carried a French accent, but were able to speak English with no difficulty, "I haven't seen Kai for ages."

"Let's go inside, you all must be tired." A few men came out to help everyone with their bags. Everyone chitchatted for a while trying to settle down and get used to the gigantic mansion. Soon everyone introduced themselves to each other and Kai's grandparents were thrilled to meet the entire team, especially his girlfriend.

Donatien suddenly looked over at the driveway. Another vehicle was parked there, "That must be Jullien!"

Kai's head shot up, "_What_?

"Oh Kai, please, don't be so hard on him," Alais placed a hand on her grandson's shoulder, "For me at least, please?"

Before Kai could protest further, the man called Jullien made his appearance. He was a tall man, about the same age as Mr. MaCaffery. He had unruly black hair that sometimes looked blue under the light and his golden-brown eyes were invariable from Kai's. Unlike Evian and Tala's father who was usually seen attired in formal business wear, Jullien was dressed in a pair of denim jeans and a tan coloured jacket. There was silence for a while as everyone took in the uneasiness that filled the area.

For Evian, it seemed like a déjà vu; for a second time in the same day she was meeting another person that looked oddly like Kai. _Gosh, I'm SUCH a pervert!_ She thought to herself.

"So Kai," The man started, "Cela a été si long."

For a while, Kai remained expressionless but was gradually replaced by elements of hatred, distress, and repulsion, "Pourquoi sont tu ici?" But he didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he turned to his grandfather, "Pourquoi tu ne m'avez pas dit qu'il venait?"

"Kai, its okay," This came from Mariah, "We're all family."

"This isn't your family!" His sudden snappy attitude startled the pink haired girl. He looked over at Jullien, "If I knew you were coming, I wouldn't be here."

"Hmm," The man sneered, "And here I thought my son would be delighted to see me."

At that, the team, minus Mariah of course, gasped. It seemed as if even Hilary wasn't aware of Kai's biological father.

Kai chuckled, but it was a sarcastic chuckle, "Oh, right. I didn't know I was supposed to be overjoyed seeing the man that left my mom to pay all the bills and raise a kid by herself at the age of twenty."

Before things could get more out of hand and before a scene could be created, Donatien stood in the middle, "Okay, okay. Let's stop now. We have guests."

"Add six more to that," Jullien said. He looked over his shoulder and sure enough, six others made their way out of a van and entered the mansion.

Evian gasped at the too familiar boy she had met earlier. "Pierre!"

"Hey Evian!" The boy looked surprised.

The blonde smiled. She couldn't believe her wish had come true. Absentmindedly, she grabbed the boy's arm and yanked him over to Hilary, and with a hand on her hip, she said, "_This_ is Pierre Hiwatari." _Yeah! That's right bitch! In your ugly face! You can have Kai because I just scored myself something better! _

"Getting famous now, am I?" The blue haired boy grinned, "Anyways, this is my team," He pointed towards the five other guys standing behind him, "And my dad's the coach."

"Uh," Tala looked confused, "I thought he was Kai's dad?"

"He's both of our dad's," Pierre laughed.

Evian decided to murder her inquisitiveness, "How?"

With a super unfussy look on his face, Pierre responded, "Kai is my half brother."

The shock was clear on everyone's face. Evian had the confused blonde look on her face like always, Hilary looked as if she had just heard the wackiest news in her life, Mariah looked indifferent of course, Ray's mouth was a mere 'O', and Tala displayed a 'nigga-whatchu-sayin'?!' face.

"Enough of the family reunion!" Donatien declared, "Time for dinner!" Everyone was told to just leave their bags where they were and enter the dining area, which of course was proportionate to the mansion itself, meaning it was gigantic. Donatien, Alais, The Skittles, and Pierre's team – Blackout – all took a seat on the large rectangular table. Kai purposely sat on the other end of the table to avoid his father and his brother.

"Now I know you're all underage," Alais commenced, holding up a bottle of red wine, "But in France, everyone has some wine with dinner."

"No problem!" Tala grinned, "Fill 'er up!" He held up the wine glass.

"Tala?" Mr. MaCaffery eyed the redhead with the corner of his eyes.

"Come on dad," Tala tried to persuade the brown haired man, "Like she said, its tradition!" In the end, everyone, including Tala, had a glass of wine.

Like the last time, Evian took one sip and made a face as if she was sucking on a lemon, "This is so nasty," She pushed the glass away from her, "I can't have it, I'm sorry."

"Here honey," Mr. MaCaffery started, holding on to a jug of water before pouring it into the glass, "If you dilute it, it might be easier." Again, the blonde daringly took another sip and made the face as if she was ready to throw up.

She shook her head, "Totally heinous. I can't." No one else seemed to have an issue, however. Kai had already convinced his grandmother he could handle a third glass, much to his grandmother's refusal. After dinner, Donatien and Alais showed everyone around their home. It took a while, but it was worth it. They also showed everyone which rooms they would be staying in, where they could train for their upcoming competition in a few days, and everything else that they needed to know.

Hilary persuaded Kai's grandparents to let her and Kai stay in one room since they were 'old' and 'mature' enough, Mariah and Evian were bunking in a room together, that left Ray and Tala to partner up and Mr. MaCaffery got his own room to stay in. Blackout was separated in a similar fashion.

Before letting everyone go off to bed, Mr. MaCaffery let the team know that training was going to start as regular tomorrow morning. As usual however, Evian had some trouble falling asleep. Dressed in her red flannel PJ pants that had cats and dogs printed all over and a simple white Henley top, she stepped outside the mansion and lit up a cigarette. She knew very well her father was sound asleep, as was Tala, so getting caught was not an issue. After the passing of a couple of minutes, Evian had finished her smoke, flicking the butt away.

But she didn't go back inside. The clear view of the starry sky made her stay. With her head upwards, she tried to spot the Big Dipper, tried to distinguish between new and older stars, and even tried to count a few. Staring at the sky made her wonder about God. Was there a God? And where was he or she or it hiding? How big was the universe anyway? She wondered if anyone from another planet was staring up at the exact same sky.

Somehow, looking up and feeling so small and insignificant and speck-like made her feel so _free_. It was as if there was so much room – so much room to roam around, so much room to breathe, so much room to do whatever she wanted without having people judge her every other second, so much room to make mistakes and make up for all of them.

So much room to just be plain old _Evian_ and not Tala.

Unbeknownst to Evian, someone had been watching her intently and intriguingly all along. But she was so wrapped up in star-watching and pondering she didn't even hear the footsteps make their way towards her, standing right beside her.

The sky was just too magnificent. She'd been an avid observer since a young age and almost felt as if she'd grown up with the sky and that the sky was the one and only thing that had always watched over her through thick and thin, good and bad, and the indescribable times. The vast and infinite sky was the one thing that never let her down and was always there to listen to her. The stars, the moon, the planets, moons from other planets, the comets, literally the entire sky, knew everything about her, every little detail there was to know, more than what her friends, parents, and even Tala could _ever_ know.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

The voice made her jump slightly, dropping her guard. It was Kai's grandfather, standing next to her, looking up at the same night sky.

She nodded, "Yeah,"

"Sometimes it's scary," He said, "You just don't know where it ends and where it begins. You don't know what's out there. And I think Evian, that's why you watch it, because you don't know but you want to know. You want to know everything and when you don't know everything, you can't sleep."

She felt as if she'd been figured out. "I guess,"

"You're a very bright girl," He looked at the blonde, "You just don't know it yet."

"No one else thinks I am."

"Because you accept the way they think," There was a long pause, "Anyways Evian, I think I am going to get some sleep now. I think you should too. Goodnight and I'll see you in the morning." He turned the other way and went back into the mansion. For a few more minutes, Evian stood there, wondering just why Donatien thought she was a 'bright' girl. With one last admiring look towards the sky, she too left for bed.

**x x x**

With Tala acting as a snooze button – that you couldn't turn off – for about an hour and a half, Evian was finally able to get up and get ready for her first morning in France. She pulled a thin purple hoodie over a white tank top and threw on a pair of black skinnies with her chocolate coloured UGGs. After a generous coat of mascara, some lip gloss, and her hair tied into an undone ponytail she made her way downstairs.

On her way, she bumped into Kai's half brother, Pierre, "You just made my morning, honey," He grinned, gaping at the blonde from his seat at the sofa. His tone presented the utmost flirtatiousness.

"Thanks!" Evian smiled, "Did you already have breakfast?"

He nodded, "Yup. We woke up before your team. We're going out to train now."

"Coolness," The blonde said, "Who's the team captain?"

"You're looking at him, gorgeous,"

"Oh," Although his openness was making her a little shy, she really enjoyed it! Now only if all guys could be as open as him!

He patted the seat next to him, "Come here, let me talk to you,"

"I have to go have breakfast," She said.

"Five minutes. Let me get to know you,"

"Okay, I guess," She shrugged her shoulders taking a seat beside Mr. Hot-As-Fuck-2. "What do want to know?"

"Everything," He focused his gaze on her, "Where are you from?"

"Toronto," She answered, "Yourself?"

"New York," He told her, "We're only a couple of hours away," He added. "When the tournament's done we should visit each other."

"Totally," She agreed. "So can you speak French like Kai?"

"Would you like me better if I did?" He smirked slyly at the bashful blonde, "Hmm, well in that case, yes, I do know French." He continued staring at Evian, and for sure, no one could deny there was some kind of connection between the two, "Question for you: since I know French, can I take you out?"

This was beyond the stage of flattery for Evian. Sure, she'd been asked out before – _I think?_ – but this guy hit her like a big yellow school bus. So open, so devilish, so alpha male-like, a little bad boy-ish, just everything she wanted, kind of like Kai but _better_. She couldn't resist. She didn't have time to go ask her father for permission. Besides, how could her daddy dearest say no to a guy like Pierre? He was seriously handsome, technically French, tall, just a little older than her, and totally liked her!

"Okay," She didn't know how to 'accept' an offer for a date. This was her very first time! And the fact that Tala was fancying Dakota gave her newfound confidence that it was okay for her to fancy a guy she liked as well! She sat there for the next couple of seconds smiling like a dork.

"Alright Evian," He got up, "That's a deal and I'm going to hold you to your words." With a quick wave – and a wink – he left the living room to go train with the rest of his team and his father.

Taking a deep breath in exhilaration, she headed towards the kitchen for breakfast. She took a seat next to Tala, of course, and was served a plate of blueberry pancakes with a cup of chocolate milk. "I have to tell you something," She whispered to the redhead.

"What?"

"Pierre asked me out,"

"And?"

"And I said yes! He's totally amazing!"

"You do realize you _just_ met the guy yesterday, right?"

"You're just jealous he asked me out before you could ask Dakota out,"

"Yeah, sure," The redhead rolled his eyes.

"Good morning everyone," Mr. MaCaffery greeted the team at the breakfast table. He mentally sighed in relief when he noticed Jullien and Pierre weren't here to cause distractions and impairments towards the strongest player of their team, "As you all know, training will start right after breakfast."

"Do we have to?" Evian whined, "I'm so tired."

"Our next match is in three days, Evian," The brown haired man started, "Of course you have to train."

"Oh my god," The blonde sighed dramatically, "That's truly gross." Donatien and Alais joined the team for breakfast and once it was done, training commenced just like Mr. MaCaffery had said. The team stood in the field that was located in the back of the mansion.

"We only have two dishes," Donatien started, leading the group, "So the team needs to split up in three."

"But we're supposed to be partnered up in two's," Mariah said.

"You need to be flexible in beyblading, my dear," The older man elucidated. "Okay, Ray, Tala, Mariah, you guys get that one," He eyed the rest of the team; "Evian, Hilary, and Kai, you guys use the other one."

"Actually," Tala piped up, "How about Mariah or Ray switch with Evian?"

"Why?" Donatien looked at the redhead, "Is there a problem with the way I divided the team?"

Tala knew Evian had an issue from the way she was staring at him almost as if to ask him to do something about it. In addition, he knew very well his sister would never be able to beyblade with the two she was set up with, especially Hilary, "She's new to the sport and I'm in charge of teaching her."

Donatien smiled, "Kai can teach her."

Evian wanted to go hit her against a wall. Why was everything always so against her wishes? She could feel Hilary send her a glare that made her shudder. Eventually the team separated and Tala made sure to keep an eye on the other half of his team just for Evian.

The blonde prepared to put the pink ripcord into the launcher, as did Kai and Hilary. Evian knew that every two seconds, Hilary was looking her way. It was the most uncomfortable situation she'd ever been put in.

"Okay," The vice captain started, "Everyone for themselves." He launched Dranzer into the dish, followed by Hilary, and then Evian.

Right away, Hilary called out Aphrodite, "Attack!" The red beyblade rammed into Evian's, which was slightly visible in the dish.

"Come on Evian," Kai looked over at the blonde.

She looked at the vice captain, "What do I do?"

"Figure it out."

But she couldn't. It wasn't like she had Tala's brain or Kai's skills or Hilary's hair colour. Hilary was a really, really, _really_ strong beyblader and it was clear who was going to win between her and Evian.

"Use your bit beast,"

"How?" Evian looked so lost.

"Call him out."

Evian made a face, "How do you know it's a guy?"

Kai rolled his eyes, "Him, her, it, whatever. Just call out your bit beast."

"Um, okay?" Evian looked over at the dish. It seemed as if Kai was trying to stall Hilary's attack on Evian's beyblade by going after his own girlfriend's beyblade, "Stardust?" There was a sudden pink glow from the bit chip of her beyblade. But within seconds, it disappeared. "What does that mean?"

"Do it again," The vice captain ordered. He circled the transparent beyblade, not allowing Hilary to get near Evian's.

"Stardust, come on, time to fight and stuff!" The blonde shouted. There was nothing, "Oh come on!" She scratched her head, "Why isn't it coming?"

"Try again,"

"Stardust, come on!" She tried again as she was told. She furrowed her eyebrows, "Oh my god! Come on! Where are you! Open sesame? Pretty please? Please with sprinkles on top!" She looked at the dish in shock. Aphrodite appeared from Hilary's beyblade with no issue, as did Dranzer.

Suddenly Kai's blue collided into hers', "Fight me off, Evian,"

_Are you crazy?_ Evian thought to herself even though she wanted to say it out loud. What in blue hell made him think she – a person who had just started beyblading not even two months ago – could 'fight off' someone who had been beyblading since the age of five! And not just that, he was one of _the _best beybladers out there! Evian wouldn't even be able to beat a first grader old at the sport!

"I can't," She said, watching her beyblade helplessly.

"You can," He encouraged, "I'm going easy on you." And he was. He wasn't attacking her, per say, he was only trying to push her out of the dish and just wanted her to fight back.

"This is boring!" Hilary cried out, "Aphrodite! Finish her!" And with one blow to the transparent beyblade, it flew right out of the dish.

Baffled, Evian walked over to pick it up, and as she did, a pink beam emanated from the beyblade and the bit beast materialized. The blonde fell backwards in terror. It was the same fox she had seen before. It was so big and so scary looking. It looked just about ready to eat her.

_Weird bit beast, _Kai watched the frozen blonde who just sat there on her behind, unmoving. Abruptly, she got up and ran off at an incredible speed, screaming her head off earning everyone's attention at the field – and half the population of France.

"Wow!" Hilary laughed, "She's scared of her bit beast! Ha!" She continued laughing.

"What happened?" Tala walked over, evidently concerned.

"She's just a chicken, that's all," Kai said, picking up the transparent beyblade.

Donatien came to the scene and stared at his grandson, "Well what are you waiting for? Go get her."

Hilary made a noise of frustration, "Stupid bitch always gets in the way," She muttered, referring to Evian. She looked to her side and realized her boyfriend had already gone after the team captain's sister.

Kai made his way back into the stately home and took the stairs upstairs and strolled over to the room that Evian and Mariah were bunking in and sure enough she was there, hiding under her blanket like a little kid. Although the scene was kind of cute, he was in disbelief and forcefully fought off the urge to laugh.

Entering the room, he tugged at the corner of the blanket.

"Go away, Tala!"

"It's Kai," He corrected. Immediately, the blonde pushed the covers away from her and sat up in bed.

"What do you want!" She was still upset and shaken up.

"I came to get you so we can go practice again,"

"Yeah, like I'm gonna go practice again and see that totally heinous monster,"

"Don't say that. Stardust is your bit beast."

"It's a monster!" She argued, "I'm never beyblading with that _thing_ in my beyblade!" She folded her arms over her chest, "How come you have a nice bird-looking thing and Mariah has a cute little kitty-cat and stuff and I get stuck with this horrendous..." She trailed off.

Kai had never met anyone in his entire lifetime that was afraid of their own bit beast. Then again, Evian was a completely different circumstance. This was a girl who was scared of fruit flies and split ends in her hair. There was just so much gullibility in her. He took a seat close to her and held out the transparent beyblade, "I don't want it." She said, looking away.

"Don't be scared," He said, "Stardust isn't going to hurt you."

"That's what you think,"

"A bit beast never hurts their owner," He placed the beyblade beside her, "It's like a pet. If you get a dog, the dog's never going to do anything to you. Instead, it's going to protect you and will always be loyal."

"I don't like dogs,"

"Fine, kittens,"

"I brought home a kitten once and he peed in my room,"

Sometimes talking to Evian was so impossible, "My point is, Stardust is supposed to be a gift for you." He didn't know if he was getting through to her, but he knew he had to keep trying and bring her back to practice, "I've had Dranzer for years and she's always been there for me." He could see she was slowly grasping on to his words, "Let's go downstairs." He watched her stare at her beyblade for a few seconds, particularly the bit chip, before grabbing it and getting off the bed.

"Okay," She said finally. She followed him back to the field and felt a little embarrassed when all eyes were on her.

"Are you okay?" The redhead came to her side. She nodded, "Don't be scared." He said the same thing Kai had said. But how could she not? Who _wouldn't_ be scared seeing a humongous deathly looking animal in front of them who had powers?

Once again, practice resumed but Evian had gotten nowhere in terms of progress. Like previously, Kai's beyblade, Hilary's beyblade, and hers' were all in the same dish. She tried and tried and tried but Stardust refused to appear. "Stardust, you're so annoying!" She shouted in frustration.

"Even your bit beast doesn't like you," Hilary grinned, "Aphrodite, take her out!" And again, the transparent beyblade was knocked out of the dish for the hundredth time. After two hours, training had come to an end and the team was able to do whatever it was they wanted to do.

But it seemed as if Evian was still aggravated over Stardust, "What is the point of me having a bit beast," She started angrily, "If I can't even use it!" She whispered to herself. She looked out the window of her room. She just didn't understand – when she first got her bit beast, she was so happy but now she was wishing she never got one. It just made her feel worse.

"You just need practice,"

The blonde spun around, "Pierre?"

"I've heard good things about Stardust."

"Well you can have Stardust. I don't want it anymore."

"How about I teach you a thing or two?" He held up his black beyblade. She noticed an eagle imprint on the bit chip.

"You have a bit beast?"

"Mmhmm," He nodded, "So do you want a quick tutorial? Then you and I can go sightseeing,"

"Okay," She smiled, shocking her own self that she was ready to train a little extra, "Sounds good!"

For the time being, Kai and Tala decided to hold a quick meeting about the team.

"That's one strange ass bit beast," The redhead started, "I've never seen one do that before."

"It doesn't even come out when she calls it," Kai said, remembering what happened at practice, "I don't know why it's doing that."

"Neither do I," Tala looked deep in thought, "But don't tell her. If she knows that you and I don't know, she won't bother trying to figure it out either."

"Okay," The bluenette agreed, "Let's talk about Boris and his team now."

"What's there to talk about?"

"Looks like you forgot everything about the Abbey."

"I didn't forget," Tala looked down, "I wish I could."

"Let bygones be bygones. We just have to try to keep safe now in case they try something funny."

"Kai, you and I know very well that the only reason they're in this tournament is to try something funny. The entire reason Brooklyn's after my sister makes it pretty obvious too. And the fact that Marshal is on the team is another hint."

Suddenly, an '_Oh my god!_' was heard across the entire mansion.

"That's Evian!" Tala got to his feet and ran off towards the direction the scream had come from. Kai followed closely until they both reached the field behind the mansion.

The two watched from afar as Evian stood behind Pierre, keenly and unspeakably watching a black beyblade spin around in the grass with an eagle emerging from the bit, leaving a trail of fire. A nearby tree had been set on flames.

"Whoa..." This was the only thing that was able to come out of Tala's mouth.

Pierre held up his hand, "Armageddon," He called his beyblade back.

"That was so cool!" Evian jumped for joy, the two pigtails of her baby pink winter hat jumping up and down as well.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Pierre grinned. "Oh, I didn't know you were watching Kai, or else I would have put on a better show for you."

"I'm not interested," With that, the vice captain proceeded to walk back to the mansion.

"How about a battle?"

"Not interested in beating you again either,"

"Is that so?" Pierre scoffed, "Or are you just scared I'm gonna beat you."

"Look," Kai stopped, "That's not gonna work on me. I'm not going to battle you, simple." He continued walking off in the direction of his grandparent's home.

"Man, that guy is always on his period. I should offer him a maxi pad." Evian pointed out.

"I heard that," Kai yelled over his shoulder, making the blonde go slightly red.

"He's just scared." Pierre replied, "He knows his Dranzer's no match for Armageddon."

"I see..." Tala said, not wanting to take a side. "I'll see you guys later," He left his sister with Pierre before leaving like Kai.

After showing Evian a few more tricks and techniques, Pierre and the blonde went out to the streets of France to explore. Being in one of the most attracted countries in the world was one thing, but being in France with Pierre was like a dream come true.

"So how come you and Kai don't get along?" Evian asked licking some ice cream off the cone. It was after she came to France when she understood that at the airport, Kai was never mad at her, he was mad at the situation. It made her feel a lot better. Unfortunately, she had no idea that that in a couple of seconds, her feeling 'better' was going to be her feeling 'not so better'.

"Well one reason's obvious: we're half brothers," Pierre said, "Same dad, different moms. It gets to him. And overall, we're just different. He's Canadian, I'm American, he's a badass, I'm a nice guy, he likes to fuck every other girl he sees, and I'm saving myself for marriage,"

Evian made a face at the new information. Sure she always knew Kai was relatively rebellious, but not like _that_, "That's so gross! Ew! I had no idea he was like that!"

"Oh yeah, he puts on a good enough act," Pierre continued, "When he was in New York for a family reunion, he did this girl in his car."

Evian's mouth hung open and her now melted ice cream dripped in between her fingers and the ground, "Okay, ew! That is like, super repelling, Pierre!"

"And he was going around telling everyone how he made the girl swallow,"

"What do you mean?"

"Oral sex..."

"Huh?"

"Wow, you really don't have any idea about these things do you? It's when the guy puts his - "

Evian plugged her ears, "I don't wanna know!" She used to think there was only one type of you-know-what. But apparently there was more.

" – and she swallows his load." This is all she heard once she unplugged her ears and looked at Pierre disgustedly.

"What load?" She shook her head quickly, "Don't answer that!" With the things she heard about Kai, she was unreservedly horrified! She thought she knew Kai! ...at least well enough to know he wasn't such a nasty pervert! He was always a little flirty around her, but Jesus!

"I probably shouldn't have told you all that. You probably have a really bad impression of Kai now,"

'Bad' impression was putting it lightly. Pierre had gone a few steps further than just tarnishing Kai's reputation for the blonde. She was so shocked and so mortified. She never in a million years would have thought him to be someone like what Pierre was describing him as. She just couldn't believe it.

**x x x**

Donatien poured himself a glass of scotch, "Your daughter is the perfect candidate, Brandon,"

Mr. MaCaffery laughed, "You just don't know my daughter as well as I do."

"Aren't we talking about the same girl who had offers from countless gifted schools?"

"Yes, but she doesn't know that," The brown haired man said, "And she's failing almost everything in school."

"And whose fault is that?"

Mr. MaCaffery looked towards the ground, "I tried my best to raise the both of them,"

"You spent too much time trying to figure out what was wrong with Tala and forgot about Evian. You spent her scholarship money for Tala's boarding school. Even when I'm telling you right now that she's the perfect person for the job, you have no faith in her."

"That's not true."

"It is true," The elderly man said, taking a taste of his liquor, "Give her the chance she desperately deserves."

"I don't want to put her in danger just because of Tala."

"She can do it." Donatien looked out the window, "Believe me, I've seen many people and she's the contender I've been looking for."

**x x x**

After getting lunch and dinner outside with Pierre, Evian had come home for her training session with her team. She obviously wasn't too happy about that, especially since Stardust wasn't cooperating at all. The blonde slipped into a super short satin lavender night dress that showed major cleavage before getting under the covers of her bed.

With an hour, she knew Mariah was already asleep. By a little past one in the morning, Evian didn't even bother trying to fall asleep. She heaved herself off bed; _maybe I should get a glass of water_. She made her way to the kitchen, grabbed a glass and turned on the faucet.

"Still awake?"

Evian cringed. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was Mr. Pervert himself. "Sort of," She exhaled out loudly, facing her team's vice captain. He was holding onto a small glass with some kind of clear brown liquid, "What are you having?"

"Tequila."

She gave him a funny look, "Your grandparents let you?"

"They don't know," He shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, okay then," She didn't feel too comfortable being around him. Gosh, with all the things he must have done with how many girls? Did the guy have no morals? Clearly not, with the way he was always flirting around with her even though he was in a relationship. Everything made so much more sense to Evian now. Thank god for Pierre!

She gulped down the cold water, hoping this is what she needed to fall asleep for the night. When she turned around to go back to bed, that's when she realized Kai was still there, absorbedly eyeing her. And that's when all the things that Pierre had told her about him were finally confirmed. She didn't need any more proof. From the looks of it, he was _really_ staring her down. She wished she'd put something on to cover herself up before she came downstairs, _for all I know, he could be staring at my titties!_

She folded her arms over her chest in an attempt cover up, hoping to let him know she'd caught on to his nasty little games, "What?" She felt like such a moron for even trying to be friends with Kai; what a waste of time.

He finished the contents in his glass first, and then, "Did you have fun with Pierre?"

"Yeah," She nodded, "He's a nice guy." _So much nicer than you could ever be._

"Well I'd be careful if I were you," He said as he brushed past her to get to the sink before quickly washing the glass to get rid of any evidence of him drinking.

Usually, Evian would be one to ask 'why' to a question like that. But why would she have to when she already had the answer this time? She knew the vice captain probably didn't want anyone, especially Hilary, knowing about his little perverted adventures. "Okay, I will," She said quickly as she prepared to leave, "Goodnight." She added.

The blonde headed back to bed, tucking herself under the covers once again dreadfully trying to get some sleep.

But still, she just wasn't able to. By now, it was a little past two in the morning. She tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position. For a second time, she got up, this time planning to go straight outside, have a smoke, and watch the stars again for a while. As she stepped into the corridor however, something didn't feel right.

And she couldn't explain the feeling, but it was almost as if Tala was in trouble or something. So she followed her instincts, just to be on the safe side, and check up on him. She entered the room he was sharing with Ray. _He's fine, you idiot_, she thought to herself as she realized he was fast asleep. But the lingering feeling remained. So she did the next best thing she could think of and that was to check his pulse. _Just being on the safe side!_ She tried to convince her stupidity. After doing so, she concluded he was completely fine.

She left the room and stuck to her original plan to get some fresh hair. She continued strolling through the corridor, this time hearing something behind her. She turned around immediately and almost let out a scream. Standing at the other end of the hallway stood another person. It was most definitely a girl, judging by the clothes which consisted of a pair of tiny black shorts, a black sleeveless top that showed a little belly, black boots that came up to her knees and had a bit of a heel, as well as a black masquerade mask over her eyes that had some gold glitter to it. The intruder had blonde hair, which was tied into a neat bun.

Evian felt as if she was dreaming. She had to be.

She snapped out of it when she spotted two objects in the intruder's hands, something blue and something grey. She tried to make out what they were before realization hit her: Kai and Tala's beyblade.

Right on the spot, Evian made some mental calculations. She could either call for help, allowing the intruder to get away by the time help actually arrived or she could run away screaming. Evian's own actions surprised herself however, as she herself ran towards the strange woman in black.

"Hey!" Evian yelled, "Get back here!" She continued running after the woman, getting closer and closer, and once she was close enough, she tackled the other blonde sending herself and the other women tumbling down the stairs.

Both groaned at the immediate pain following but got back up. Evian knew there was no turning back now, it was do or die and she tried to convince herself she could take on the other girl. After all, it was another girl, nearly her height, _and_ she was blonde.

"Leave if you know what's good for you," The girl in black warned.

"That's my brother's," Evian motioned towards the beyblade.

"Not anymore," And with that, she ran off, but Evian followed closely behind. There was no way she was going to let some stranger steal her brother's most valuable possession. Once in the kitchen area however, the bad blonde stopped and stood in a fighting stance.

"Give it back!" Evian shouted.

"Alright," The other woman chuckled, taking out a switch blade, "You asked for it dumb bitch."

Evian could never deny the fact that the living daylights were scared out of her at the sight of the weapon. She was even more terrified when the woman came charging towards her, knife in hand. And still, stunning her own self once again, Evian didn't run off. Instead, she dodged the attack and grabbed the other woman's arm and pinned her against the wall. But she forgot to keep her defence up because the attacker kicked her off.

Although it hurt, Evian waved off the pain. She located the intruder taking the stairs going up and she followed once again, catching up easily a second time. She grabbed her hair and pulled her down and was once again caught off guard due to poor defence. Evian instantly let go of the other blonde and looked at her bloodied leg where the other woman had slashed her with the switchblade. It stung so much and the sight of blood trickling down made her feel nauseous and she wanted to sit down and cry. But the thought of how much of an emotional wreck Tala would be – a day she'd never let happen – made her get back up.

"You want more?" The other blonde sneered, "You don't want to mess with me. And I don't want to hurt you. You're getting this all wrong."

Oh no she didn't! Of _course_ Evian was going to mess with this idiot. She'd mess with _anyone_ that had the slightest guts to mess with _her_ brother.

"You're right, I don't wanna mess with you," Evian said, smiling genuinely, before turning towards a bitchy tone, "I wanna fuck you up." That being said, Evian ran over to her and forcefully undertook the other girl. What she didn't notice was the fact that she had done so into a door instead of a wall, and when the door burst open, both girls fell to the floor.

"Oh my god! What the hell!"

Upon hearing Hilary's shriek, Evian realized she had taken this to Kai and Hilary's room. There was no time to think about whose room she was in and whose sleep she had disturbed, however. She got to her feet, as did the other girl. Hilary continued screaming and telling Kai to help and 'do something'.

"What the fuck's going on?" The vice captain asked.

"She has your beyblade!" Evian yelled, "And Tala's!"

Kai's eyes widened and before anything else could happen, he watched the concealed girl get down and trip Evian with a kick. Evian grabbed onto her aching hip and got onto a crawling position. That's when she felt something around her neck, literally choking her, "I said leave me alone!" The other girl said, "You don't understand what you're doing!" She yelled at Evian, but continued to pull the phone cord around her neck tighter.

Evian tried to pull the cord or make some room between it and her neck but with no avail and she felt weaker and weaker and things were starting to get faint. She felt her grip on reality fade at an alarming rate and she knew she wasn't able to defeat the other girl. She was too strong, too skilful, too tactical, and Evian was only a dumb blonde.

A split second before Evian completely gave up and lost touch with realism, she felt the cords loosen. She got rid of the cords quickly, coughing and trying to catch her breath. That's when she noticed it was Kai who had helped her out by pushing the other girl off her. Still on her hands and knees, she noticed something under the dresser of the room. She pulled out what appeared to be a field hockey stick or croquet stick. She grabbed it with both of her hands as if it were a baseball bat and once again stood up and ran right in between Kai and the other blonde.

The other woman got up slowly but Evian made sure not to give her a chance this time as she took a swung towards the girl's head, proving her baseball skills were still intact. The girl fell backwards but tried to get back up and before she did, Evian got on top of her and held the stick towards her neck, "Now who's the dumb bitch, bitch!" She spat into the girl's face in revenge, "Kai get your beyblade!" She yelled. He did exactly as he was told, getting Tala's as well from the woman's pouch.

"Get the fuck off me!" The other girl yelled, and when Evian didn't listen, she used her own head as a weapon and hit her on the head, making Evian tumble on her butt. Both women held onto their foreheads in pain, "You don't understand! But I'll be back! And I'll make sure you stay out of my way, fucking cunt!" With that, the girl ran off. And Evian let her; after all, the beyblades were not in her possession anymore.

"Jesus effing Christ," Evian groaned. She had never felt so lightheaded in her life; with a blow to her head like that, it made her see double, maybe even triple. Right away, she sprawled on the floor and lay on her back with her eyes closed, not caring if the floor was dirty, and held on to her aching head. "Who does she think she is anyway, huh? Stupid little..." She trailed off unable to find any words to describe the other girl. Literally every part of her body was in utter pain. That's when she felt a pair of hands around her wounded leg. She pushed herself up with her elbows immediately, "Ew!" She pulled her leg away upon noticing the vice captain. What if he was trying to feel her up, huh? What if he was trying to take advantage and rape her! Then what? What if...

"Relax," He said, forcefully grabbing her injury once again, "Hilary, go wake everyone up and call an ambulance," Hilary didn't argue and once she left to do what she was told to do, Kai examined the blonde, "Don't fall asleep," He said, "You hit your head hard."

"Okay," She said, trying to keep her eyes open but she felt so exhausted.

"That was some stunt you pulled there," He went on, "Are you stupid?"

Even in this position, she managed to roll her eyes and not answer the question.

He wrapped a cloth around her bleeding leg, "You're lucky it's not that serious."

Soon, everyone had woken up and were all standing inside the room, each person worried about Evian. Especially Mr. MaCaffery and Tala who refused to leave her side. After a while, the ambulance also made an appearance. Donatien and Kai did all the talking since the paramedics spoke very little English. But they hadn't told them the entire truth to avoid publicity and such.

At the hospital, Donatien pulled Mr. MaCaffery aside, "Didn't I tell you she was the perfect candidate?"

"She's hurt," Mr. MaCaffery said, "She can't do it. She can't handle it. There's no way."

"I am recruiting her for this job, whether you like it or not. I just can't believe you have no faith in her at all, even after today."

"That means she's going to know about Tala and Kai and the Abbey,"

"She deserves to know the truth," The older man said, "At least some of it."

"Are you Brandon MaCaffery?" A nurse came by. When the brown haired man nodded, she continued, "Your daughter has been treated for her injuries. They were very minor. She can even go home now."

Once out of her room, everyone had run towards the blonde in an embracing manner, praising her for her actions. The case was different for both Kai and Tala however, who quoted her actions as 'stupid' and 'retarded' and 'very un-blonde'.

"Hey, don't call _me_ stupid! You guys are the stupid ones for leaving Dragonfly and Werewolf out like that!" The blonde exclaimed, "I always knew boys were stupid!"

While Kai only shook his head at Evian's airheadedness, Tala smacked his own forehead, "It's _Wolborg_, you dumb ass!"

By the time everyone got back to the mansion, it was already time for breakfast and no one got any sleep. "There will be no training this morning," Mr. MaCaffery announced, "I want you all to get some sleep. We'll train at night."

"Yes!" This came from Evian, who was obviously excited by the news, "Where's Pierre?"

"He went out with Jullien to watch some of the Category D team battles," Alais answered, "How are you feeling, dear?"

"I'm good!"

"And what would you like for breakfast?"

The blonde grinned, "An ice cream sundae!"

"Evian..." Mr. MaCaffery gave his daughter a stern look, "I want you to have a proper breakfast,"

"But daddy," And with one puppy face, Mr. MaCaffery sighed and gave in and within minutes, the blonde was served her ice cream sundae.

Donatien came into the breakfast area, "Evian," He started, "May I have a word with you after breakfast?"

Kai couldn't help but look at his grandfather, wondering what he could possibly want with Evian. Maybe it was regarding the door she broke last night?

"Um, okay," She agreed.

Donatien smiled, "I will be in my office, upstairs." With that he left, but not before gazing over at Mr. MaCaffery.

Subsequent to her 'improper' breakfast, Evian made her way upstairs to Donatien's room. The room was very big with two book shelves on either side of the room filled with books of all sorts. She'd never seen so many books in her life, not even at school. She noticed Donatien, as well as her father, sitting behind the table.

"Have a seat," Donatien offered.

She did as she was told, "What are we going to talk about?"

"Well, Evian, there's just so much to tell you and I don't know where to begin," Donatien exhaled out loudly.

"Okay..." The blonde didn't have a clue what this meeting was about. And she didn't understand why Kai's grandfather wanted to talk to _her._ Why not Hilary? Shouldn't he be more interested in his grandson's girlfriend and try to get to know her? And what in the world was so important where she had to be called into such a formal setting such as an office?

"For years, I have been working for the USSS," He paused, taking in the confused look on her face, "The United States Secret Service."

"Oh, wow," She beamed, "That must be a cool job."

"It's a difficult job and very stressing," He admit, "I've been in charge of one job in particular."

"Oh, okay," She said. She wondered how any of this was relevant to her.

"And after much deliberation, I've decided to employ you to help me."

"Me?" Evian pointed at herself, "For what?"

"I think your father should answer that,"

Evian looked over at the brown haired man, "Daddy?"

"Evian...I lied to you," He spilled flatly.

"About what?"

"Well," Clearly, he didn't know how to approach the matter. He ran his fingers through his hair, desperately trying to find the right words, "Tala never went to Vancouver over the summer."

Evian made a face, "What do you mean he wasn't in Vancouver? Where else would he be?" She chuckled, wondering if her father was only testing her about something, "He was visiting gramma,"

"Evian, honey, don't you ever wonder why I never sent you to see your grandmother?"

Of course she did. She always did. The thought of it never left the little head of hers'. She always concluded the fact that maybe her grandmother just liked Tala better. Everyone liked Tala better. All her relatives and family friends were so fascinated by him because he was so smart, such a good son, so independent, so handsome, so this, so that. He was always everyone's favourite.

But she wondered just how much better their grandmother could have liked Tala, so much so where she didn't even want Evian tagging along during the trips. It just didn't make sense.

Finally, she shrugged her shoulders in response and decided to ask a question herself, "So if he never went to Vancouver all those summers...then where did he go?"

"He was in Russia. I sent him to a boarding school."

* * *

**Hello my lovely's. I hope this update was fast enough! Anyways...I only got 4 reviews! I got 20-something reviews for my note and only 4 for the chapter? Lol, oh well. **

**Anyways, thank you to:**

**zeratheliger – **Fear not! ...about the KaixEvian thing lol...or about things going uphill...remember, trying to go uphill is very, very, very difficult, sometimes even impossible.

**Fuurai – **You don't like Heineken?! What! Well I'm not into beer, but this is what I grew up with! My dad always has this!!! Lol.

**kstar orange**

**just a girl**

**BY THE WAY...**I just want to let some of you know that there will be certain topics in this story that some of you MAY find offensive and it MAY not sit well with you...but like I've said before, this story is like my journal and I will be bringing up situations in this story that I've encountered, directly or indirectly...so this was just a heads up. Also keep in mind, this is JUST a story.


	28. Chapter 28

_I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one._

**DLS**_28_

For a while, time ceased for Evian. She had a couple of options: laugh in her father's face because she'd caught onto the dumb joke he was playing on her just like Marshal had, pinch herself really, really hard because all of this just might be a dream, stay still and continue wondering...

...or accept it.

Before she could pick and choose, Mr. MaCaffery started speaking, "I sent him to boarding school," He repeated, "It was a private school called BioVolt; it was a place dedicated to beyblading."

_Laugh Evian, laugh!_ And she did a little bit. She didn't know why because it wasn't really even that funny. Did she actually believe all this? _No... _A private school sounded really expensive and unaffordable for them; her parents were already struggling with their mortgage.

"Where did you get the money for a private school? One in _Russia_?" She scrunched up her face. Airfare, tuition fees for the school, extra fees for other things, good God, how? She noticed Donatien eye the brown haired man with the corner of his eyes.

"Well," Her father started with a sigh, "I worked overtime and so did your mother. Together we made just about enough to send him there."

"Wait, so..." Evian looked up at her father, another thought barging into her mind, "You mean you really did lie to me?"

"Yes Evian, we had to,"

"What do you mean you 'had' to? I'm your daughter," She reasoned. Her mind referenced back to the time when came across the folder. She thought about the day after when her own brother mentioned something about them all hiding something from her. So it was all true? It was all real?

Donatien cleared his throat, "Let's leave the emotional discussion for another time. Right now, let's talk about why we really called you here." He turned his head to Mr. MaCaffery, "So why don't you continue telling your daughter about BioVolt?"

"Right," Nodded the brown haired man, "So BioVolt is a private beyblading school located in Moscow, Russia. It was very costly but beyblading was the only thing your brother showed interest and potential in so I took the chance. While you excelled in everything at a young age like school and making friends, Tala had so much trouble. He learned to read when he was ten," He paused and looked into his daughter's sea green pools, "But you learned to read when you were two."

Again, the blonde made a face, "So? You sent him to a boarding school half way around the globe because he couldn't read and I could?" She shook her head adding in a mocking laugh.

"You learned to read by yourself, Evian. Your mom and I never taught you. You weren't in a school at that age either."

"Maybe I learned from TV, did you ever think about that?"

"You never watched TV," Mr. MaCaffery pointed out, "And even if you did, it still doesn't explain how you'd be able to read something like this," He picked off a magazine labelled _Scientific American _off the table, "when you were only two." For a few seconds, Mr. MaCaffery eyed the magazine absorbedly, almost as if he was reminiscing, and then, "I didn't want Tala to feel bad around you because you were always so good at what you did, Evian. I sent him there so he could be good and stand out in at least something."

The blonde looked pokerfaced. Nonetheless, she did remember her younger years when her parents were constantly dragging her to the doctor's office for Tala and sometimes, doctors and counsellors would show more interest to her than they would to her brother. She never knew why.

"I just wanted him to be really good at something without having to feel like he had to compete with you. That's why I put him in beyblading."

Again, Evian wondered if this was all one big hoax, but something inside her told her this was all one big _truth_; a truth that had been missing in her entire life for so long, creating a hole in the pieces of her existence. At the same time, it literally broke her heart into a million, trillion, zillion pieces. She had all the potential in the world...all of it. She used to excel in everything, her father had just told her, and it was Tala who was always the runner up. At least that's how it used to be. She remembered it so crystal clearly. All those days she defended him from the bullies, all those times she tried to teach him his ABCs and 123s and help him read and do his homework and teach him how to tie his shoelaces. Tala wasn't even able to make friends on his own; she was always there for him.

"I just wanted you and Tala to share a very close bond and I never wanted him to feel second best."

Yeah? Then what about her? Did her father want _her_ to feel second best to Tala? While he caught up to her eventually and beat her in everything, she couldn't do the same. She couldn't pull alongside.

But to know that she used to have it all and the cause of her downfall were her very own parents only confirmed the fact that they loved Tala so much more than they loved her...

Even when she was younger and outshined Tala in everything, she was still made to feel second best, probably a tactic to make her brother feel better so he wouldn't give up.

And he never did. But she did. Hell, who _wouldn't _give up when it came to her brother? Tala was too determined, too smart, too much of a hard worker...he was tough competition for her and he literally put her commission.

She was born with a shot, with an opportunity, to cease everything she ever wanted...did she let it all slip right through her fingers like a fistful of sand?

Or did Tala take what was hers'?

At all this, she felt a sudden anger and envy towards the redhead, more so than she ever did before. He took it all. He didn't even say 'thank-you' to her for letting him have it all. He didn't even say sorry for making her feel like shit. It was all hers'. He took it from her...

Her toe nails were digging into the sole of her shoe.

But still, Evian was confused: did she love her brother? Or did she hate Tala's guts? Because sometimes she couldn't stand him and wished he'd just disappear. Simultaneously, she couldn't live without him either.

She let out the breath she didn't even realize she was holding when she felt something roll down her cheeks.

"Evian?"

She looked up at her father – no scratch that, she started up at the _man_, the man that ruined her life with teary eyes. How could he do this to her? How could her own parents do this to her? What had she done to them? What had she done to Tala? She only tried to help. Besides, she never asked to be Tala's twin. She never asked to be part of this family...

"You're crying..." Mr. MaCaffery stated the obvious.

"Yeah," She wiped it away, "It's just so sad, what he had to go through." That was a big fat mother fucking lie.

"Well there is more," Donatien took over, "A lot of students were reported missing from BioVolt," He explained, "And it was later made clear that no one was ever missing, they were killed. Some students were abused mentally, physically, and sexually. There were a lot of threats made to the students who didn't comply."

At this, the blonde seemed to have forgotten her feelings towards her family.

"We didn't tell you because we just didn't think it was appropriate for you to hear such things, Evian," Mr. MaCaffery added.

Evian looked horrified, "You sent Tala to a school where people were being killed?" What kind of a father was he! "What the hell?"

"I didn't know until later," He defended himself, "But every time he came back from school, there were marks all over his body and he behaved so strangely. He wouldn't tell your mom or I what happened. I had to force it out of him one day."

"And?"

"Let's not waste our time with the past," Donatien interrupted, "To make a long story short, Kai was also part of the boarding school."

"You mean they used to know each other from _before_?" The news was coming at her fast and it was just so shocking. She could feel her heart stop beating and start up again every other second.

"Yes," Mr. MaCaffery said, "But they were told to pretend not to know each other after they were pulled out of the school. But I guess it's always hard to forget a best friend. And it didn't help that they ended up in the same high school."

Things were slowly starting to make sense. She could now clearly see why they were so close. And that folder she found at the park one day? There was a reason they were both after it. There was a reason for everything all this time.

And that's when she remembered, "Does this have anything to do with yesterday? And the man that's been following us in a clown mask?"

Donatien nodded, "Smart girl," He eyed the brown haired man before looking back at Evian, "Tala and Kai are in a lot of trouble." The first thing Evian thought about when Donatien said that was Marshal. Was Marshal actually joking or being serious? Why was Marshal involved anyway? "They know it themselves, but they don't know exactly what's going to happen. Neither do we. But we do know it has something to do with them being in control of extremely strong bit beasts."

"That's why that girl wanted them yesterday," Evian concluded.

"Yes,"

"And she's a part of Biodegradables or whatever?"

Suppressing the urge to burst out laughing, as this was a very serious situation of course, Donatien continued, "I'm assuming so, yes,"

"Why not just tell the police?" Evian said in a matter-of-factly way.

"This is way out of the hands of police. It was handed over to the USSS and other Secret Services of other countries." He made a brief halt, "And that's where you come in. You're going to be recruited to protect them."

Immediately Evian threw her hands up in defence, "Whoa! Okay! TMI! TMI!" She said, "I'm only a little girl! I don't know anything about anything! I haven't even been to prom yet!"

"You're the ideal person for this job. Why? Because you're always around Tala and Kai, you're intelligent, you're committed, and after what I've seen from last night I know that with just a little training, you'll be turned into a weapon for the USSS."

Evian looked over at her father in disbelief. There were a couple of questions running through her mind, most notably a 'what-the-friggin-fuck?!'.

"I know that this is not something an average seventeen year old girl like yourself would like to engage in," Donatien stated, "But tell me this, how much do you love your brother?"

At this moment in time, she really didn't know. It felt like she didn't. How could she? How could she possibly love someone who made her go through so much crap? For every time their report cards came and he had a higher average, for every time someone asked them questions and he had all the right answers, for every time their parents needed help and counted on him instead of her.

For every time he was smart and she was dumb.

For every time he was big and she was little.

For every fucking time he was right and she was wrong.

The pain she felt from all that was unimaginable and incomparable to anything else in the world. It was much worse than a knife or bullet wound, so much worse than being stuck in a blizzard and freezing, even worse than being burnt alive or drowning.

"Well?"

"A lot," The only reason Evian answered this was because Donatien pressed on. But she didn't know if this was a truthful answer.

"Enough to risk your life for him?"

She didn't know all of a sudden.

"You don't have to answer that. I already know you would risk anything in this world for your brother." The elderly man concluded. "As for Kai, he's going to have to be added to your plate as well and you're just going to have to learn to care for him as much as you care for Tala."

How the heck was that possible? She didn't even know if she cared for Tala anymore...

But that was the least of her worries right now. Here she was, bombarded with another impossible-to-reach expectation. She was just a girl, just a little girl. What could she possibly do to _protect_ two guys she never imagined could need her help? Or anyone's help for that matter.

Kai and Tala were extremely independent. They didn't need help. Couldn't anyone see that? The only person that needed help was _her_.

Fuck that. She just wanted to crawl into a hole and die and just be forgotten.

"We can't tell you everything right now because not everything is relevant and there are a few things we aren't too sure about," Donatien justified. "The main rules for you are, this is _absolutely_ confidential. No one is to know about this. No one is to know about this meeting, no one is to know about you, no one is to know about your training, your skills, _nothing_." He grabbed a tan coloured envelope off his desk and pulled out a stack of papers, "You're required to read the rest of the rules with your father, and should you agree to this job, which I desperately hope you do, I will need your signature as well as your father's and both of your fingerprints."

Evian sat up straight and reached for the papers; there were a whole bunch of them stapled into organized booklets. Was she actually expected to read _everything_? That would take forever. Raising her head, she looked at Donatien, "Is all of this," She referred to the situation, "actually real?"

The older man leaned into his seat in a relaxing fashion, "I understand how all this must feel Evian, but all this is very real, as real as it can be."

His answer really didn't help.

"I know you're a young girl and this is the time for you to learn new things, have fun, be with your friends, perhaps make a boyfriend but you can still do all those things, Evian."

Gem green eyes met with the papers for a couple of seconds. Everything appeared so professionally, the wordings, the font used, and at the right hand corner of each page was the United States Secret Services logo. "So...what exactly am I supposed to do? Like, what's my job?" She inquired.

"Everything is explained in the papers in full detail but to make a long story short you're basically to protect them and their bit beasts and make sure no one gets near them."

The blonde couldn't help but laugh. Protect? _Protect_? Evian put a hand over her mouth in an attempt to hold back her amusement. "Honestly, why would you even think about picking me? Like I'm not even old enough to have kids and you're putting me in charge of two guys who probably don't need my help and even want my help."

"I have faith in you,"

"And...I do too," Mr. MaCaffery added.

Evian was confused. If all this was real, shouldn't they count on more than just plain old faith? And why in the world would they have faith in _her_? What had she done to gain their faith?

"What do you say, Evian?"

The blonde took a deep breath. She didn't want to ask again and again if all this was a joke for the sake of being annoying.

"Tell you what," Donatien started, "You take the rest of the day to figure things out and come to me when you're ready."

Evian snagged the option right away and left the room.

**x x x**

Although having the ability to wake up at any time he wished to, Tala was a heavy sleeper. Apart from an alarm clock – and having his mom come into his room and spank him on the bum even at this age – almost nothing managed to wake him up.

Nonetheless, today proved to be different.

Lifting his head off the pillow, still half asleep, he reached over for his cell phone that was lying on the side table and pressed a button on the side to check the time; it was a little after two in the morning. But something just didn't feel right. Getting off the bed, the team captain made his way out of the room he was sharing with his teammate and strolled towards where his sister was staying. He stood in front of the door for a couple of seconds, wondering what the heck he was doing before turning the knob, letting himself inside.

Careful not to wake Mariah, he quietly went over to the blonde's bed, only to find it vacant.

**x x x**

Holding a couple of Euros, Evian leaned over the bar, "Cranberry juice, please?" She made her order, getting a nod in reply from the bar tender who got to work right away filling a small glass with ice, the red liquid, and a straw before sliding it over to the blonde.

Instead of accepting the money, the man behind the bar smiled and gave her a wink, "It's on the house,"

"Really? Thanks!" The young blonde grinned before dancing her way further into the crowded club; drink in one hand, cigarette in the other.

**x x x**

After the horrifying – and unexpected – discovery, Tala wasted no time; throwing on a pair of jeans, a hoodie, his jacket and grabbing his phone, he left to look for Evian. After realizing that Pierre and his entire team was absent from the house as well, Tala knew his sister wasn't in any kind of danger. But that didn't mean she could just go out _this_ late at night with a bunch of _guys_ and think it was perfectly okay to do such a thing.

As he walked the streets of France's nightlight angrily, he thought about what he was going to say to his stupid and brainless sister. He was going to give that dumb blonde a piece of his mind when he found her! The redhead was furious; how could she just _leave_ in the middle of the damn night? In a country she wasn't even familiar with! And with guys she hardly knew! Not to mention they were all a little older than her and one of them clearly had a thing for her!

_What the fuck is wrong with her?_ He thought to himself before a newfound realization hit him: _Am I a bad influence on her?_ He went out frequently and stayed out late, had drinks, got drunk, flirted and hit on other chicks and Evian had seen all this from him. Was she taking after his habits?

His eyes shifted towards the ground as he thought about things. Tala knew he'd have a hard time accepting and handling things if she did end up doing things that he did. He knew he wasn't a bad guy or anything, he did what any other boy his age did, probably less, but he was way too used to the 'good girl' Evian and he wanted things to stay that way for his sister.

He was well aware that Evian was unlike most girls her age; she never had a boyfriend, she was still 'pure', he was sure she never even kissed a boy in her life because if that were to happen then he'd be the first person she'd tell, she never had alcohol in her life, she hardly stayed out passed 10 PM, and her favourite place was the mall. She was extremely childlike and encompassed so much innocence and this is what he was accustomed to.

The redhead pulled his hood over his head and stuffed his hands into his pockets as a cold burst of wind whipped past him. _Ev, where are you!_

**x x x**

"Shit I'm hungry," Complained one of the members of Blackout as the car pulled into the driveway of the mansion.

"What are we gonna eat at like," Evian paused and leaned over one of the guys' to check the time on their watch, "4:30?"

Pierre shrugged, "I'm sure we'll find something," All seven people walked into the mansion, more than half the team completely wasted, a few of them tipsy. Everyone plopped onto the dining table, hoping one of the chefs were still awake and would be able to make them something.

"I'm just going to have milk and cereal," The blonde announced, "You guys?"

"Potato wedges,"

"Baloney sandwich which mustard,"

"I'm feeling a steak, man,"

"Eva Mendes,"

The last 'craving' earned a laugh out of everyone and lucky for them, there were a couple of chefs up and working and everyone got what they wanted.

"Did you have fun?"

Evian looked up to see Pierre eyeing her, "Yeah," She nodded, "I just can't believe I stayed out so late, my dad's totally gonna kill me if -" She stopped immediately, interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing. Everyone at the table looked over towards the entrance to catch a glimpse of the person.

Evian's hands flew to her mouth immediately in shock and slight fear as she made eye contact with a red-cheeked and runny-nose Tala. She bit her bottom lip in apprehension; it was so obvious she had been outside, after all, she was still dressed up in the aqua toned strapless dress, sequined and strappy heels were still hanging off her feet, and the biggest evidence of what she'd been up to was the admission wristlet she had to wear to get into the club.

Evian opened her mouth to say something but when he threw her a dirty look and walked off she was a little taken aback.

"What's his deal?" Pierre enquired.

"Hold on," The blonde quickly shuffled out of her chair and chased after her other half, "Tala!" She whispered loudly as she climbed up the stairs only to be ignored, "Would you stop!"

"Don't talk to me, Evian,"

"Stop running away!"

"Get your shit straight, I'm not the one running away," He neared his room and was about to go inside when he heard a loud _thud_ behind him. Glancing over his shoulders, he rolled his eyes at the fallen blonde. Other than Evian, he never met anyone in his life who tripped going up the stairs. Feeling slightly at fault, he sighed before helping her up...only to realize it was a trick!

"I'm sorrrrrry!" She embraced him tightly, her arms clinging from his neck, "I'm sorry times a million squared!"

"Ev, let me go,"

"But I said sorry," She made a puppy face, "Can you stop acting like a seriously heinous bitch now?"

"What do you expect me to do when I wake up and find out you're not home? Throw a party?"

"Okay, I'm really sorry," A sympathetic look replaced the blonde's features.

The redhead pushed his sister but she held on tighter, "I don't care! Just get off me you dumb ass!"

"Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry! How many more times am I supposed to say sorry?"

Seeing as she wasn't about to give up any time soon, he surrendered and sat beside her on the staircase, "Where were you?"

"Outside,"

"No shit; where?"

"Um," She smiled sheepishly, "Club?"

"Are you serious, Evian?"

"You always go!"

_I knew it!_ "I go with people I know,"

"I know Pierre,"

"No you don't, you just met him,"

"He's a nice guy, Tala! He's so adorable and he's so caring and all that good stuff!"

"Well don't you think you're going out with him and trusting him a little too fast? Look Ev, I'm a guy, I know how guys think so if you really like him and wanna hold on to him then you're gonna need to be a little smarter,"

"Uh, okay,"

"You're gonna have to have some substance to yourself and be kinda rigid,"

She looked confused for a couple of seconds, "I have to take drugs and be bony?"

"No, you idiot," The redhead rolled his eyes, "K, guys like a challenge so if you come off as too easy then he's not gonna be interested in you anymore,"

"So...I have to play hard to get?"

"Not really..." Tala couldn't believe he was having this conversation with his sister. He always thought it to be the other way around where she'd tell him how to act in front of a girl and what kinds of things girls expected from a boy. Nonetheless, this discussion was really giving him insight on how much Evian really knew about the opposite sex and made it pretty clear that she really wasn't ready for a boyfriend. And it also meant he'd have to be her mentor on this subject and really teach her a few things before she made some sort of mistake. "Basically, don't be the one always chasing after him, let him chase after you too,"

Another look of uncertainty replaced her features once again, "So when we play tag I should run fast?"

Scrunching up his face, Tala looked at his sister like she was mentally retarded but decided to use her idea as an analogy instead, "Sort of..." He wondered if he was making any sense, "Don't always say 'yes' to him, you have to say 'no' sometimes."

"Oh okay,"

"Make it look like you're busy,"

"Why?"

"Like I said, we like a challenge,"

"Why?"

"It's in our blood,"

"Why?"

"Because I've had two girlfriends already and I'm pretty sure I'm about to get another one so I think I know what I'm talking about and you should just take my advice because no other guy in their right mind would tell you this except me!"

"Okay! No need to make me deaf!" The blonde inched back.

"Why do you like Pierre anyway?"

At this, Evian's cheeks flushed and she smiled shyly, "I don't know, he's just great, I mean he has gorgeous blue hair, super gorgeous eyes, he's French, he's tall, he's kinda ballsy and I really like that in a guy, he's really smart," She paused before grinning, "And his bit beast's element is fire so it means he's outrageously hot!"

Tala raised an eyebrow, "You know Evian, it really sounds like you're describing Kai..."

"Tala! Ew!" The blonde whacked him across the arm, "That is like is like _so_ disgusting!"

The redhead shrugged his shoulders, "I'm just saying it how it is,"

"Well please don't! That's just nasty! He's...he's _ew_!"

"Why are you freaking out about it? Usually when you freak out about something it means -"

"Just shut up! That's like so wrong on so many different levels! You are _so_ satanic!"

"Um, anyways," He gave his sister a weird look, "Did you have anything to drink at the club?"

"Some water and cranberry juice, that's it,"

"Cranberry juice vodka?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No! Of course not! Ew! I didn't have any alcohol, come on, you know I don't drink! Alcohol makes you lose elasticity! Without elasticity," She paused grabbing her breasts, "I wouldn't have these big juicy boobs to fill up my dress so perfectly!"

Tala wrinkled his nose and looked away, "K, Ev, reminder: I'm your _brother_! Fuck, I think I'm gonna throw up,"

Evian shrugged her shoulders, "Well it's true," She said casually.

"You're not supposed to tell me these things..."

"But I tell you everything,"

The redhead was about to say something but decided against it; he didn't want to discourage her from telling him 'everything' – even if it was stuff that he seriously didn't need to know. "Then why don't you tell me why you went out tonight? You've never ever snuck out like this Evian, this is so unlike you."

The blonde sighed, "I don't know, I just needed to take my mind off some things, I guess," She regretted saying this immediately however because she knew he was going to ask her 'why' and when he did, she decided to use this to her advantage instead, "Oh, you know, just about yesterday and stuff,"

"Forget about that Evian, what's done is done, everything's okay now,"

"But you know what I wonder?" She grasped onto this opportunity to ask _him_ some questions.

"What?"

"Why did she take Dranzer and Wolborg? Why not Ray's? Or Mariah's or Hilary's? Why not mine even? Why did she go after _yours'_ and _Kai's_?"

"I...I don't know. Who cares?" He put on a non-caring front.

But Evian had already noticed how he faltered over his words. Nonetheless, she decided to let it go, she wasn't going to get it out of him and it was at this point in time she realized this is something she'd have to find out for herself. It was also at this time she finalized her decision.

"Back to what we were talking about," He put the subject back on track, "Couldn't you at least let me know when you went out?"

"You were sleeping,"

"I don't care if I'm sleeping or if I'm half way around the world, I need you to tell me Evian, okay?"

"K," She bobbed her head up and down.

"And I really don't want you hiding anything from me, I don't care what the circumstance is, no secrets,"

"Okay," She chuckled.

"Promise?"

"Oh my God, you're such a girl, Tala," She rolled her eyes but put out her pinky finger anyway linking it with his pledging finger, "I promise,"

"Alright Evian, you promised me,"

"So did you Tala," She added, "You can't keep secrets from me either even if they're really bad,"

"I won't,"

"So is there anything you wanna tell me?" She cocked a brow, "Anything at all?"

"No,"

"So there's _nothing_ you're keeping from me?" She pressed on, "Not even a super tiny, insignificant, 'oh-she-doesn't-need-to-know' kind of thing?"

"Nothing,"

_Tell me the truth you bastard!_ "Are you su -"

"I'm not going out with Dakota yet, we haven't even kissed, I did wear your clothes sometimes when we were little because it looked cool, I tried your eye pencil crayon shadow or whatever the hell you call it only once because Marshal dared me too and I was drunk off my ass, and no I'm not gay, so yes, I'm sure."

_I hate you._ "Okay," But in seconds, she seemed to forget about the things he was hiding from her, "You tried my eye shadow? Oh my God! Which one?"

"I don't know! I don't remember!"

"It better not be my Estee Lauder eye shadows! Those are expensive!" She gave him a glare before wiping off his nose with her bare hand, "Why the heck were you outside?"

"Why do you think Evian? I was looking for you since 2,"

She gasped, "That's like more than two hours! It's freezing outside!"

"Well it was either go out and try to find you or tell dad," He smirked, "So you tell me which one you'd prefer,"

"Shut up," She hit him on the arm a second time, "You're not funny, you're just stupid. I can't believe you were outside for so long in this weather! And you didn't even wear mittens! Or a scarf! You're such a shit face!" She got to her feet and grabbed him by the arm, "Let's get you some chicken noodle!"

"Aren't you supposed to be happy because I'm so caring?" He asked as he followed her down the stairs.

"Fine," She stopped to give him a quick hug, "But you don't have to be an idiot!" She pecked him on the cheek, "I love you but if you get sick I'm kicking your butt to France tomorrow!"

"Um, we are in France?"

"Alaska, then!"

"Your cereal turned to mush," Pierre commented with a grin as he picked up a spoonful from her bowl and let it fall back in.

"Ew!" Evian shrieked, "That's _not _hot!"

"Yeah that may not be but I know something that is," The blue haired boy threw her a flirty grin as he dipped a potato wedge into some ketchup.

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Evian gushed at the blue haired boy before looking over at one of the chefs, "Can you please make him some chicken noodle soup? And a fruit salad with lots of oranges? Please and thank you!" With a nod the cook left for the kitchen.

**x x x**

Donatien and Mr. MaCaffery watched the small blonde girl, pen in hand, whipping through the pages, signing her name and fingerprinting at the bottom of each sheet.

"All done," She said as she scribbled her signature on the very last page of the contract.

Mr. MaCaffery took a deep breath and eyed his daughter, "Evian, are you -"

"I'm sure,"

Donatien pulled the papers closer to him, "What made you change your mind?"

There were a number of reasons why she changed her mind, the first one being she grasped onto the fact that the whole thing was a reality that she'd just have to deal with whether she liked it or not; second, no one was going to lay a finger on _her_ brother; and third, she just wanted to know what the hell was going on and this seemed like the best way to do it. Instead, she moved her shoulders up and down casually, "I don't know, I just did," She fibbed.

The older man straightened the stack of papers by hitting them on the table a couple of times, "Well Evian I hope you understand that by signing these," He paused as he shoved the papers back into the tan coloured envelope, "your double life begins today. Are you ready?"

In all honesty, Evian wasn't sure. She loved surprises, but only the good kind. "Yes," She verbalized.

"Well then, your training will begin tonight. Since it's your first, we'll keep it to an hour. Usual sessions will be three hours running from 3 AM to 6 AM."

Inside, Evian freaked out. 3 AM to 6 AM? When was she going to sleep? And Three hours! That was preposterous! She couldn't even sit through an eighty-minute calculus class! Fighting off the urge to sigh, the blonde nodded, "Okay."

Evian didn't know what she had gotten herself into but somehow, through some kind of thought process in that little head of hers', she managed to convince herself that all would be okay and this is something she'd be able to handle.

* * *

**Yes people! I know!!!** It's been a LONG time since the update but I was really iffy with this chapter. I still don't like it! It has info (not all of it though, mind you, more things will be revealed in later chapters) but I feel like it was more of a filler (and I don't like fillers!) than anything else. Then I figured meh, my other chapters are good (to me at least!) so that's okay, it gets interesting after this one. I know, it took me more than a month to decide...

**OH!! ALSO!! YES THIS STORY IS KAI/EVIAN!!!!!!!! **It just wouldn't be interesting if he was single and into her and she was single and into him and they get together. And plus, I wanna keep things realistic.

**Anyways! **Other than that, I got kicked out of school again for those of you who don't know. It was on my profile. Yup. It's sad because I had one of the highest accounting marks and they still dismissed me from the university. And I can't get into any other university right away, I actually have to go through college first, which is just sad. What a waste of my fucking time. Got effing wasted the night of the "BITCH YOU'RE KICKED OUT OF OUR UNI" letter, threw up all over the place - that wasn't fun... - told my brother some very, very, very strange things and passed out in bed.

**Boyfriend news...** Yes! I finally broke up with the monster! And in the strangest way! ...I punched him in the face and threw my winter boot at him. The end. And no, I'm not a violent person, you just wouldn't believe how annoying he was. He put spyware on my laptop and went through all my chat logs, he went through my phone and my txt msgs, he wouldn't leave me the hell alone, blasting my phone with calls until my phone died, messaged all my guy friends and told them to stay away from me, etc. Omg...like...I'm just gonna stop here before I end up writing an entire CHAPTER about this fool.

**Other...stuff?** Well it was my friend's birthday the other night and we did it at Jack Astor's...its a restaurant for those of you who don't know it. Omg guys. We were THROWING cake across the restaurant. I'm not kidding. All you saw was chunks of cake flying across the table and shit and poor couples sitting near us were terrified. Haha. My friend got cake in my ass crack...and let me tell you, cleaning it out was kinda awkward...and strange... :S

**Question...** So I want you guys to tell me some of your bad boyfriend stories or drunken stories or shit that happens during birthdays! Lol! And I know this chapter sucked so don't even comment on that! Lmao!

**xoxo to the following for your reviews:**

NeNe Productions

**Sinning Angel - **Honey, trust me! I'm probably more dumb than Evian! Which is sad... I know she's all naive but trust me, people like her exist!!! Haha! And all holes in the plots will be closed! ...I hope. God that sounded dirty!

**zeratheliger**

**Fuurai - **I shall take your advice on the beer! ...if I ever make enough money to travel to Belgium :S

**just a girl**

**Shanea**

**native-kitten**

**ChaoticPhoenix27**

**Blood Tainted Angel**

**tWinKle*dAisY - **KAI/EVIAN STORY!!!!!! Lol. And PLEASE take my advice and do well in high school and go to a university/college you'll like in a program you'll like and DON'T SCREW UP YOUR FIRST YEAR!!!!!!! I can't stress this enough....for obvious reasons...lol

**Lithaerie - **Will she be better than Tala or Kai?! LMAO! LMAO x 100. Sorry. Well...you'll have to read and find out, but I have to say, nothing comes as easy as that...

**Peroxxide Priincess**

**Crying Sorceress - **UPDATE YOUR STORIES WILL YOU!! Lol. It's getting VERY hard to find good stuff on fanfic now!!! And yes, I have had more experiences...with stuff...LOL!!!

**NightPredator **


	29. Chapter 29

_Free falling baby, awake before I'm down..._

**DLS **_29_

Letting out a yawn, Evian quietly walked into the room she was sharing with Mariah. Still dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a baby pink hoodie along with some runners, the blonde only sighed and took a seat on the edge of her bed, the rising sun's ray's hitting her back and cascading towards the pinkette on the other bed.

The only thought in her head? _Did I do the right thing?_ and _Is it really real?_

The only extracurricular things she'd ever done in her life were baseball when she was younger and now beyblading. Other than that, she was just an average girl who went to high school, enjoyed outings to Eaton Center – a massive mall in downtown Toronto – with Miriam and Evelyn, looked forward to watching shows like _The Hills_ on television, and always tried to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookies when she was bored.

And she always thought her brother had a pretty average life too, going out with his friends, doing his homework, and studying for tests, playing rugby, annoying the shit out of her at home sometimes by picking up the other phone and making fart sounds when she was on the phone with her friends – all in all, very normal.

But she had no idea that wasn't entirely the case.

Sighing, she lay down on the bed with her arms spread out, worn out from her very first USSS training session. Turning to her side and using one arm as a pillow, Evian closed her eyes and wondered...sure she'd give up anything and everything in the world for her brother but she didn't exactly know what she'd gotten herself into. Come to think of it, she sort of agreed to do something she knew nothing about.

She thought about the 'abuse' that was mentioned; what sort of abuse did he go through? Were they beatings? Inhumane torture? ...rape?

The blonde opened her eyes and shuddered. Rape was impossible and so was inhumane torture – if that was the case then Tala would be pretty messed up but as far as she was concerned, he appeared to be pretty normal and un-traumatized.

Turning her head, she squinted slightly and stared out the window at the phenomenon she had never seen before due to sleeping in, forgetting all about her troubles at once. She never knew a sunrise could be so beautiful, displaying so many different shades of pink, orange, purple, and slate. The scenery was so picturesque, the beams creeping through and above the trees, the tip of the sun visible in a rich golden colour.

Smiling to herself, she headed downstairs to take in the fresh morning air for once in her life and continue watching the sun make its full appearance. As corny as it sounded, she felt so _alive_. She finally knew what a 'new day' meant.

Who knew _light_ could be such an inspiring thing to watch? In fact, who knew _science_ was such a spectacular thing? Really now, the effect was being created solely by the rotation of the Earth – at what seemed to be the perfect angle – and its orbit around the Sun. Just two spherical masses spinning, that's all, yet it produced something words could never describe. The warmth from the levitating orb was so friendly and so inviting, it made her stay, and she didn't know for how long, but she just stood there gaping in awe.

When she finally turned around to head back to her room, she was startled, for she never realized the being seated in one of the chairs that were situated in the front porch. Loosely clutched in his hands was the neck of a bottle, the contents relatively empty. A plain white t-shirt and a pair of shorts with the Cleveland Cavaliers emblem near the hem was all he was dressed in. He appeared to be sleeping, his dual hair unruly like always, shifting left and right slightly from the breeze.

Making a face, Evian debated with herself on what exactly it was she was supposed to do with Kai: leave him there? Wake him up? Act like she didn't see anything because really, it wasn't any of her business?

But she found herself making a move before she even let herself decide, approaching him and placing a hand on his arm to give him a good shake. His skin was cold to the touch, making her question how long he had been outside.

She patted him on the arm a few times, "Kai?" She poked him a few more times until he finally became conscious, his eyes half open, "What are you doing here?" She whispered. He only shrugged in response before going back to sleep, "Do you wanna go upstairs?" She watched as he shook his head, "You're gonna catch a cold," She pressed on.

At that, he cracked an eye open and said something, none of which she was able to understand except catching the name 'Pierre' somewhere in the jumbled sentence. Not even bothering to figure it out, she pulled him by the arm, "Let's go, come on," Surprisingly, he complied, and it was when he finally got up and stumbled she realized he was completely drunk, "Um, okay," She put an arm around him in an attempt to stabilize them both, "Just hold on," And hold onto her he did, one arm lazily around her neck.

"Evian?"

"Yeah?" She dragged him inside and towards the stairs, "What?" The blonde repeated when he didn't say anything.

"I dunno," Came his reply as he grabbed onto the railing with his free hand.

"Okay," She ignored the whole thing and made him take a step. It took a while – and it wasn't the easiest task – but in the end, they were on the top floor. But it was getting him into his room that made her hesitant; what if Hilary woke up all of a sudden? She'd beat the crap out of Evian! Eyeing one of the doors in the hallway, one which didn't belong to Kai or Hilary's room, Evian decided this was probably the best way to go.

Reaching for the knob and pushing it open, the blonde helped her vice captain inside. The bed she was looking over was occupied but there was still room! "Shh," She warned before helping into the bed, "Don't move around too much or else he'll wake up," She started as she pulled half of the blanket over him, "and kill me." He only managed to nod before falling asleep immediately.

**x x x**

The big day was finally here! It would be The Skittles' last day in France since today was their match. Upon hearing the alarm, Tala reached for his cell phone and turned it off. From the other bed, Ray stirred in his sleep as well, and eventually sat up.

"8 o'clock already?" The raven haired teen muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

"Apparently," The redhead replied, remaining in his bed. It was until he moved his legs around underneath the blanket when he felt...another pair of legs, "The fuck?" He rolled over, horror dawning over his features, "Holy shit!" He yelled, pushing himself away as further back as he could and landing on the floor in the process.

"What's going – oh, _damn_," Ray looked confused for a minute before grinning, "You and Kai? Who would have thought?"

Tala slapped himself across the face – quite hard actually, "Well I'm not dreaming..."

"Yeah but I bet I know what you _were_ dreaming of,"

"Ray, shut the fuck up!" The redhead got to his feet and wrinkled his nose as he looked over at Kai on his bed, still snoozing. He never thought he'd live to see the day where he woke up next to a guy! An ugly girl with crooked teeth and bushy hair, sure, but a guy? "Yo asshole! Wake up man! What the fuck you doing in my bed?"

Let's just say there was no precise explanation from either party but the statement 'no homo' was exchanged one too many times for Ray's liking – or Hilary's liking, who had ended up joining them when she woke up and discovered her missing boyfriend. As for Mariah and Evian? Well, while Mariah chose to laugh about it and make jokes about Tala and Kai's secret relationship, Evian chose to follow Einstein's advice and kept her mouth shut.

Nonetheless, the day continued despite the awkwardness; breakfast was served, followed by a brief session of training, and before they knew it, they were at the stadium for their battle.

"So we're facing a team called _Cheerios_," Tala made a face at his adversary's team name, "They must love cereal."

"Soft," Ray commented.

"Don't underestimate them. They didn't make it this far for no reason," The redhead said, "Kai and Hilary, you guys are gonna go against Adrian and Brad, Ray and Mariah, you two are gonna face Lindsay and Peter, and Evian and I are gonna battle Russell and Dustin."

"What am I gonna do?" The blonde made a puppy face holding up her beyblade, "Stardust doesn't even come out." All that training and practicing did her no good; her bit beast never made an appearance since her last battle.

"Just keep trying," He told her, "Who knows? Stardust might show today since there's a battle."

Looking a little hopeful for once, Evian exited the locker room with the rest of her team.

"First up from Cheerios we have Adrian and Brad facing off against Kai and Hilary of The Skittles!" The players made their way to the dish. The dish was circular of course and had a tropical theme going on with sand, some water off to the side, as well as trees. "Okay! Bladers are you ready! 3! 2! 1! Let it rip!"

Four beyblades landed in the dish.

"Aphrodite! Attack!"

"Nice try," Adrian sneered, "Cardian! Counter attack!" Adrian's forest green beyblade butted into the red one, with a lizard emerging from the bit chip, "Oh yeah! Who's the man!"

"I thought I was the man, man!" Brad started, "Go Themis!" Since Adrian had already gone after Hilary, Brad was left with no choice but to go for Kai.

"Dranzer! Fire Arrow!"

Brad laughed, "It's like blowing out candles on a birthday cake! Themis! Tropical Cyclone!" As just as he said, the bits of fire from Dranzer's attack were blown out, leaving a slight trail of smoke.

"Now that was unexpected," Tala commented from the benches.

Completely taken aback, Kai looked at the blue beyblade. _Uh...okay..._

"Kai, what's wrong?" Hilary inquired.

"I don't know," But he didn't stop, "Dranzer! Flame Saber!"

"And I thought you were really good!" Brad smirked, "Themis! Same attack! Tropical Cyclone!" For a second time in a row, the flames were put out by the whirlwind.

"This is way too easy," Adrian said, "Keep it up Brad, while I finish this babe."

"Wow, Kai's stupid," Evian rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Evian," Tala said.

Back at the dish, Hilary was in shock, "What's happening, Kai? Dranzer's attacks aren't working!"

Even Kai didn't know what was happening. He regretted boozing up last night; it was working to his detriment in terms of concentration and will. But still; what in the world was happening? Why weren't any of his attacks working?

"Themis! Final attack!" The intensity of Brad's attack physically pushed both Hilary and Kai away from the platform. Nonetheless, the blue beyblade quickly darted away from the hit.

"Alright Cardian, finish her!" Adrian called out.

"Cupid's Arrow!" Hilary was quick to make an attack. Both beyblades collided at once, flipped over, and were out of the dish.

"Now it's just you and me, Kai," Brad laughed, "You're done, man. Themis! Attack!" Themis compellingly drove into the blue beyblade, moving it close and closer to the water.

"Dranzer! Use Spin Fire Attack!" And the attack only worked to his disadvantage as Themis powered up and used the water to wash out the fire.

Kai took a step back in shock. It was as if his worst nightmare was materializing right before his eyes. Not even his most powerful attack did any kind of damage. Dranzer continued dodging the attacks and stayed away from the water as much as it was possible. For what seemed like the first time in his life, Kai was out of options and didn't know what to do other than run away from his opponent and just stall. This was definitely not his style. He frantically tried to think of a game plan, but with a mild hangover, it was hard.

"This round's a goner," Ray said, "It's up to the rest of us to win this one."

Evian watched Dranzer get pummelled as if it were nothing. She knew Kai was so much more smarter than this. Wasn't the boy using his damn brain? _Well with those looks, to hell with a brain!_ The blonde had a dreamy look on her face for a few seconds before shaking her head to snap out of it. She really couldn't believe Kai – the 'genius' – was having trouble. The solution was right in front of him. The dish was practically made to his benefit and he hadn't known it yet. Having had enough – and for the purpose of not wanting to work too hard during her match just because of Kai and Hilary – Evian got up.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tala yanked the blonde, but she wriggled free and ran up closer to the dish.

"Kai!" She called out.

"What the hell is your problem? I thought I told you to stay away from Kai and not talk to him!" Hilary screeched.

But Evian ignored the brunette, "Kai!" She yelled again. He looked over his shoulder, "The trees!" She shouted, "You're _such_ an idiot!"

Apart from being shocked by the battle, Kai was almost as equally shocked for being called an 'idiot'. And by Evian. But what in the world was she going on about? He wasn't about to listen to a blonde who had no idea or technique in beyblading whatsoever. She couldn't even call out her bit beast for God's sake! Avoiding her, he turned his attention back to the battle.

"It'll fan the flames you douche bag!"

Once again, Kai looked over at the yapping blonde.

"Like wildfires, moron!" She added, flailing her arms. And that's when things started making sense to him. Trees. Fire. Wind. He really did feel like an idiot. And douche bag. And all the other names she'd managed to call him in the short timeframe. Nonetheless, he didn't waste any time.

"Dranzer!" He called out his bit beast and lured Brad towards the trees.

"Okay Themis! Final attack!"

Just a split second before the windy attack started up, Kai went back into action, "Okay Dranzer, Fire Arrow!" The blue beyblade criss-crossed through each tree, lighting them up like a candle and just like Evian had mentioned, the wind from Brad's attack literally stimulated a wildfire. All power back in the hands of Kai, he smirked, "Make your last wish,"

"What the hell!" Brad yelled, "Tropical Cyclone!"

"Oh man, what a serious dumb ass!" Evian grinned watching as that attack only made things worse for Kai's opponent. Not even a splash of water did anything. Within a few seconds, Brad's yellow beyblade was flung out of the dish spewing out a thick dark cloud of smoke.

"And The Skittles take round one! Give it up for Kai and Hilary!" Jazzman announced earning cheers and applause from the audience. "Now someone call the fire department to get rid of that fire!"

As Kai called back his beyblade, he stood there in awe. The weakest link on the team, the blondest girl he'd ever met, and perhaps one of the dumbest people in his entire school...had actually given him guidance in beyblading. And without that guidance, he would have lost.

Hilary and Kai walked back towards the bench, "You did it!" Mariah praised, "That was awesome!" She and Ray readied themselves for the next match which resulted in a quick win and it was finally Tala and Evian's turn.

"You ready, Blondie?" The redhead looked at his sister as he fixed his beyblade on to his launcher.

"Not really," She admitted following Tala closely behind as they made their way towards the platform.

"3! 2! 1!" Jazzman counted down, "Let it rip, bladers!"

"Okay Stardust, please, please, please do something this time!" Evian pleaded.

Meanwhile, the team captain tried his best to take on both of his challengers at once, "Alright Wolborg! You know what to do!" He was caught off guard, however, when not just two beyblades came at him, but three.

"Whoa! And it looks like Evian and Tala have some sibling rivalry going on!" Jazzman declared.

The two beyblades, Tala could handle, but with the transparent beyblade that was shoving his grey beyblade with so much force, he was a little stunned.

For a second, the redhead was positive Stardust was trying to tell him and Wolborg something...or better yet, trying to _prove_ something.

But he pushed the thought aside, "Evian! Control your blade!" The redhead yelled.

But what could Evian do? Stardust wouldn't even listen to her! She watched in horror as her own beyblade went after Tala's. Russell's navy beyblade, Dustin's orange one, and Evian's beyblade constricted Tala's grey one, not allowing it to move in any way, trying to force it out of the dish.

Russell grinned from the other side of the dish, "Thanks cute stuff," He gave the blonde a wink.

"Stardust! You are, like, such an embarrassment! Gosh!" The blonde said in aggravation. Laughter could he heard across the stadium at the ridiculous battle.

"Oh boy," Ray commented from the sidelines, "She's gotta tame that bit beast,"

"Do something, Evian!" Tala exclaimed.

"Stardust! Stop!" Evian yelled. She was absolutely gleeful when the transparent beyblade ceased to attack the grey one, moving away from the battle and making its way towards the center of the dish. Before she could sigh in relief, her beyblade tilted over to its side and literally stopped, "I didn't mean stop spinning, you moronic bit beast!" Needless to say, the last round resulted in a loss for Evian and Tala.

"It's okay," Mr. MaCaffery started, "We're still in the tournament."

"She needs to practice more,"

"Hey!" The blonde shot a glare at her brother, "It's not my fault!" She pushed the redhead hard.

"Everyone on this team agrees with me when I say you're slowing all of us down!" He shoved her back.

"Oh yeah!"

"Guys! That's enough! Stop!" Mr. MaCaffery stood in between the twins before they could tear each other apart, "Evian, don't hit your brother. And Tala, don't touch your sister."

"She pushed me first!"

"Yeah I'm allowed since I'm older, stupid!"

"Quiet!" The brown haired man raised his voice, "If you two can't get along, we'll withdraw from the tournament. And aren't you embarrassed to be doing this not only in front of your teammates, but the entire world?" Both siblings looked towards the ground as he spoke, "Anyways, let's head home," He referred to Kai's grandparents' place, "We leave for California tomorrow morning so everyone should be done packing by tonight."

During the bus ride back to the mansion, the twins obviously didn't sit together or even talk to each other. _Who does he think he is anyway? President Obama?_ Evian thought angrily as she leaned her head against the window, _Stupid Tala._ She just wanted to go back to Toronto. She hated beyblading, she hated this team, she hated people on this team, and she hated Tala! She was just a rookie, what more could he expect from her than to mess up every two seconds?

Once the team arrived to their destination, Evian immediately headed upstairs. With a packet of Swedish Berries, her iPod on a Late Night Alumni song and this month's issue of Cosmopolitan, she lay on her bed, waving her feet in the air in hopes of forgetting beyblading and anything and everything associated with it. But she couldn't just forget; the task was harder than she thought.

She couldn't understand why Stardust was being so malfunctioned, for lack of words. Was there even such thing as a malfunctioning bit beast? _From the looks of it, obviously_. She remembered Tala saying a bit beast came to the person if they liked them, the bit beast chose their owners, so if Stardust chose her – for what reason, she didn't know – then why the hell wasn't it listening to any of her commands? No one else was having trouble.

She thought having a bit beast would make her life so much easier. But it was the complete opposite. _I wish I never had you, Stardust._ Just then, she watched as her beyblade glowed pink almost as if to say the same thing back to her. Sticking her middle finger out at the beyblade, she went back to reading her magazine.

When it was time for dinner, everyone was called downstairs to the dining area. "Where's Pierre?" The blonde questioned, taking a seat beside her father.

"He went out," Alais said, "With a friend named Madelyn."

"Oh," Evian got comfortable in her seat, "Okay."

"So Evian," Donatien started, "I saw your battle today,"

"Yeah..." Evian kept her eyes on her dinner plate. She really didn't want to have a discussion about her skills, or lack thereof. It would only give everyone on her team more reason to make her practice and bore her to death.

"Seems like there's a lot of room for improvement," And there it was again. Criticism.

"I guess," She shrugged her shoulders.

"And I also saw how you helped the team stay in the tournament," Evian eyed the elderly man, "If you didn't give my grandson your advice, then you would have had two losses in this match, resulting in three strikes for the entire tournament, meaning your team wouldn't be part of the competition anymore, isn't that right?"

At this, the vice captain couldn't help the feeling of disappointment that lingered towards him. If he was such a 'genius' why the hell couldn't he have figured it out in the first place? His ego – and reputation – was terribly bruised. He could feel slight warmth from Dranzer from his pockets letting him know it was alright. But it wasn't alright.

"Um..."

"Well?"

"Maybe?" The blonde made a face.

"Give me a straight answer, did you or did you not help them out?"

"I think so?"

"Yes or no?" By now each team member's attention was towards Kai's grandfather wondering what he was trying to get it.

"Yes?"

"Tell me firmly, Evian," Donatien pressed on, getting frustrated by the blonde girl.

"Well see, it's like this," She started, "I didn't help at all 'cause the other guy wasn't even, like, that cute so it was super obvious who was gonna win, duh," She grinned obliviously, forking a mushroom and taking a bite.

While everyone around the table gave her a strange look for not taking the sport seriously, Kai kept his eyes on the plate and scrunched up his face in serious confusion, _does she think I'm cute? Or no? _Poor boy. Meanwhile Donatien sighed and let it go; it appeared that he would have to train Evian in all sorts of categories, not just one.

When dinner was finally done, Tala approached his sister, "Hey,"

"What?"

"I'm sorry," He expressed regret, "About today."

"Okay."

"I just want you to know that it's getting really hard for me."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Well it's not like it's any easier for me,"

"Don't think I'm picking on you when I say you need more practice. I'm here for you, I'm gonna help you, okay?"

"Okay," She nodded before the twins engaged in an embrace to mark the end of their feud. Shortly after, everyone started packing up and headed to bed early to catch their 8 AM flight. But this still didn't stop Donatien from calling Evian out at 3 AM for a three hour USSS training.

"I'm so tired," The blonde complained, plopping down on the grass, "I'm technically not getting any sleep!" She looked up at Donatien with a pout hoping he would cut her some slack.

"You can sleep on the plane. Now get up. You still have an hour and a half." The elderly man offered his hand to help up the girl.

"How are you gonna train me once I leave France?"

"I'm going to be travelling with you. I'll be staying at a different hotel so that Kai doesn't see me. Or anyone from the team. I'm going to let you rest for the first day in California, but after that training will start as usual."

"Okay," But before she knew it, she was pushed towards the ground. She grabbed her behind in ache, "Ow,"

"You can't be caught off guard like that. And if it hurts, you're just going to have to deal with it, Evian."

**x x x**

"Everyone, please settle down," Mr. MaCaffery was standing up at the end of the breakfast table, "Please have breakfast. Don't forget your passport. Don't leave anything behind." He warned everyone, "I have everyone's plane tickets. We'll leave by seven since our flight is at eight."

"Where's Evian, Mr. MaCaffery?" Ray asked.

As if on cue, the fresh faced blonde walked into the kitchen. It appeared as if she was already geared up, dressed up in a super cute black and grey striped sweater dress with a pair of tights and black suede boots. A white Fendi purse hung from her arms and a pair of sunglasses was situated at the top of her head. "Hello patriots!" She grinned and gave a slight wave before taking a seat at the table beside Tala.

"Wow, I can't believe you're already awake and everything," Mariah commented, "You must be really excited to go to California."

"Of course! Tank tops, mini-skirts, flip flops, sunnies, Gucci bikini, seriously hot topless guys with blonde surfer hair in swim trunks! Mmhmm, that's what I'm talking about!" As she expressed her enthusiasm like her regular cheery blonde self, the team just gawked at her.

"And here I thought we were going there for beyblading," Hilary said, crossing her arms.

"Where's Pierre?" The blonde asked. Suddenly she gasped nearly making the redhead beside her choke on his peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Icy blue eyes turned to the blonde in annoyance, "What?"

"I forgot to shave my legs!"

"Too much information, Ev,"

The team finally made it to the airport in time. "I can't believe I didn't get to see Pierre!" Evian whined.

"Well I'm right here,"

Evian looked up and her puppy face was turned into utter thrill. "Oh my god!" She embraced the blue haired boy. "I can't believe you're here!"

"I can't let you leave without a goodbye," He smiled, charming her to no end.

"Our flight's ready," Mr. MaCaffery started.

"Thank god," Kai rolled his eyes wondering why his half brother was here. He was such a poser, dressing up like Kai, looking like Kai...

...sharing the same father as Kai.

He couldn't stand the thought of that.

"Aw, already? But Pierre just got here!" Evian said.

"It's okay, I'll see you again," Pierre said. And that's when he did the most unexpected thing in the world. He inched closer towards the blonde and planted a kiss on her cheek. Evian was rendered speechless. She covered her mouth in sheer shock, not taking her eyes off the blue haired boy.

The same, however, could not be said about Tala. "Please don't ever touch her without my permission, thanks," He said, pulling Evian away by the sleeve of her jacket. The team filed into the plane but Kai remained in the waiting area. Finally, he got to his feet and approached Pierre.

"Stay away from my teammate,"

Pierre sneered, "What's the matter, Kai? We gonna fight over the same girl now? I've got her wrapped around my finger, so you can back off. And it's only a matter of time before I tap that booty, taste that pus -"

"Either you shut the fuck up or I'll shut you the fuck up."

"You've already got a girl, Kai. Don't be so greedy now, you can't have all the ladies. Besides, I'm afraid I can't stay away from the object of your affection until you and I battle, _brother_."

While Kai had the biggest urge to sock Pierre in the face and disfigure him, he kept his cool, "Stay out of my fucking life." With that, the vice captain of The Skittles left to catch his flight. The minute he got on the plane, however, he could hear the perky blonde go on and on about her 'first kiss'.

"It doesn't count as a first kiss!" The redhead countered.

"You're just jealous Pierre kissed me first before Dakota got to you!"

"Would you shut up about Dakota!"

Kai rolled his eyes at the twins before taking a seat beside Hilary. Like the last time, Kai tried his luck with another flight attendant about alcohol but this time with no success. He tried to lighten up as he watched the movie they were playing on the plane currently: The Amityville Horror.

"The guy is so cute," He could hear Evian say from behind his seat, "But this movie is so disturbing!"

"There's gonna be dead bodies under your bed when you sleep tonight," A _smack_ sound following Tala's statement was also audible as Evian hit the redhead.

Although Kai really tried to take his mind off the flight, the slight turbulence in the middle of the flight got to him, "Where are you going?" The brunette asked as she watched the vice captain get up. Without giving her a reply, he continued to walk down the aisle until he reached the bathroom, which, to his distaste, was occupied. The door swung open after a few seconds, and much to his surprise it was Evian.

"Oh sorry," She started, "I didn't know you were waiting." He literally pushed her aside, however, and kneeled over the toilet and threw up. "Oh my god!" He could tell Evian was completely grossed out by the tone of her voice and the sound of her running off confirmed it.

He continued vomiting, and was surprised when he heard the door shut behind him and a hand was place on his shoulder.

"Aw, you poor thing," There was no doubt it was Evian, "It's okay," She reassured, moving her hand up and down his back. When he was done puking his guts out, almost literally, he flushed and took a seat right on top of the toilet, "I got you some water." She held up the cup. He spit out the first sip he took before drinking the rest, "How do you feel now?" She asked.

"Better," What guy wouldn't feel better with a super cute girl taking care of him? Especially when they were both locked up in an airplane bathroom together? Oh the fantasies...

"I feel so bad, aw," She said again giving him a sympathetic smile before turning to the mirror to fix her already perfect hair, "What's 387 divided by 14?"

"Huh?" He looked up at her in astonishment.

"Well, what is it?"

"What? Are you trying to make an ass out of me again?"

She gave him a funny look, "...no?" She shook her head, "Anyways, so tell me,"

He gave in. "Uh," He looked towards the ceiling in thought, "Twenty-seven..." He trailed off, "Twenty-seven point sixty-four?"

"What is," She put her hands on her hips, thinking, "What's 250 divided by 8?"

"Who wants to know?" At this, she raised an eyebrow and demanded an answer right away, "Thirty-one point twenty-five."

"167 times 4?"

"668."

"Reduce 350 over 1000."

"Um," He took a few seconds before answering, "Seven over twenty."

"How many stripes on my sweater?"

He counted quickly, "Fourteen on the front,"

"What rhymes with your name?"

"I don't know," He shrugged his shoulders.

"What's my name backwards?"

He thought for a while, "Naive?" He was bomb-shelled at the reverse of her name. He couldn't believe just how accurate it was almost as if her parents had named her Evian on purpose knowing she'd turn out to be extremely naive.

"Hey cool, it is!" She grinned, "I never knew!"

It was at that moment in time Kai realized the questions she'd been asking was a manoeuvre to make him feel better and completely forget about his fears. No one ever managed to do this. Unlike Hilary who kept telling him it was going to 'be okay' and that if he needed he could throw up in paper bags or he could try to get some sleep, Evian's tactic was absolutely ingenious and worked like a charm and all she used was mathematics – and other random things – to take his mind off things. He felt bad, suddenly, for being such an idiot to her a few seconds ago; she was only doing him a good deed.

Nevertheless, what he didn't know was him doing such fast calculations in his head and spitting out numbers in split seconds was _such_ a turn on for her. Even though she was a blonde, Evian was a sucker for smart guys, nerds with gigantic glasses included. Pervert or not, there was just something strangely downright sexy about an intelligent guy who was good with numeral figures.

"Are you ready to go back, Kai?"

He was ready to go back, but he wasn't ready for the continuation of the flight. The two left the washroom, only to be bombarded with an awkward statement from the flight attendant.

"Excuse me! What do you think this is? A motel!"

While Evian's face went as red as planet Mars' surface, Kai smirked, "Sorry, can't help it when little man," He looked downward at himself before eyeing the attendant again, "acts up every time there's a dime like her around," He motioned towards the blonde with his head, and once he left the woman speechless.

Walking down the aisle, Evian plopped down beside the bored redhead, "Tala?"

"Yeah?" He replied, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"What does a dime mean?"

"Uh, ten cents?" Tala gave his sister a look, "Or ten bucks of weed,"

The blonde was mildly confused, "Oh," She managed to say, wondering why Kai would call her ten cents or even a bag of weed.

"Unless a guy calls you a dime," Right away the blonde seemed interested and he got the hint, "Who was it?"

"Pierre," She lied, "Is it bad?"

"No you idiot," He rolled his eyes, "If a guy says you're a dime, it's a compliment, it means a perfect ten, like ten outta ten, get it?"

"Why not just call me a hundred dollar bill or something?"

Tala furrowed his eyebrows at the blonde, wondering for the zillionth time in his life why on earth he was related to an airhead, "Okay, never mind..." The redhead turned his attention back to the movie, falling asleep eventually.

And whoever else was asleep didn't need their cell phone alarm system to wake up them when they arrived at their destination; Evian did the job, "We're in California, bitches!" The blonde boomed, "L.A. here I come!" There was no surprise she was the very first passenger running off the plane like a mad woman, immediately going into a washroom and changing into something summery.

The entire team also retreated from the plane just a few minutes after the blonde with Tala and her father carrying the rest of her things. When the cameras started flashing, when questions were being thrown at them, and when they were being asked for autographs, they realized they weren't alone.

"Tala, are you dating Dakota of the Cali Crushers?"

"Between Evian and Tala, who's the good twin and who's the bad twin?"

"Kai, are you secretly going out with Evian and using Hilary to distract the media?"

"We heard you guys did a shoot for the Career Blade magazine; how'd it go?"

Although Hilary, Mariah, and Ray were also given attention, it was evident that the captain, vice captain, and the only blonde of the team were getting the most. Kai completely ignored the paparazzi due to experience from last year and Hilary, Mariah and Ray followed his lead in the situation. And while Tala was completely horrified by the sudden attention Evian seemed to completely soak up the spotlight like a sponge, taking a completely different approach to the matter than the rest of the team.

The blonde answered a few questions and even held a quick conversation with the paparazzi and got friendly with them...so friendly, in fact, that she even blew them all a kiss before jogging off towards the exit to meet the rest of her team.

After the aid of two taxis the team made it to the hotel they'd be staying in. As usual, the girls were sharing one room and the guys were sharing another room and Mr. MaCaffery had a room to himself.

There wasn't any training for today. Mr. MaCaffery told the team he wanted everyone to rest up well and be ready for tomorrow. And that's exactly what the team did. After dinner, everyone crashed in the boys' room for drinks and a movie.

"Oh my god," The blonde flipped the channels before stopping at an all too familiar show starring Sarah Jessica Parker, "Let's watch Sex and the City!"

Snatching the remote away from his sister, Tala flipped the channel to something else, "Much more like it," He said, stopping at a channel with a girl dressed up in what seemed to be a yellow leather – or pleather – bikini, "Man she's hot as hell."

"Ew, no she's not, she has a slut-face," The twins fought for the remote heinously.

"Uh guys?" Ray started, pointing at the television screen.

"Whoa..." Tala said.

"I didn't even know that was possible," Kai added.

"My virgin eyes!" Evian turned away to avoid the pornography that was currently being shown on television, "Change the channel! This is so not right!"

"And really embarrassing..." Mariah commented, hiding her face behind a cushion. "Especially since I'm in the same room as Kai."

"Ya think!" The blonde shot her a look. At least Mariah and Kai weren't _real _brother and sister like Evian and Tala were! It was so much more awkward! "Would you change the goddamn channel already? I can hear perverted breathing noises!"

"Shit that's hot," This came from Ray. It was clear the guys were way too intrigued by a topless woman doing things to not just another man, but three men all at once.

For the girls, it was the most repulsive thing they've ever laid their eyes. Hilary grabbed the remote out of the team captain's hands and just turned off the television.

"I can't believe you guys!" Evian started, "Go make a girlfriend you lonely, horny perverts." She shuddered.

"I already have one."

"And I'm almost getting one."

"Damn, I need one."

"You guys are sickos," Mariah rolled her eyes at the three boys. Mariah and Hilary had some mixed drinks while the guys had a few beers. Evian of course, stuck to plain old water no matter how much Ray tried to convince her to have something else. The team decided to watch the horror sensation, _The Grudge._ While the blonde tried to pay attention to the movie, her idiot brother and the vice captain made it impossible.

"First one to finish all six, wins," The redhead grinned at the bluenette.

"Alright," Kai agreed, popping the lid off his Budweiser, "You lose, you kiss my ass."

"Doubt I'll be doing the ass smooching, man," With that the two proceeded to chug the contents, with some of the beer leaking out and onto their faces.

Mariah and Hilary rolled their eyes at the boys' childish competition and left the room to get some sleep. Evian stuck around for the sake and fear of her brother's wellbeing. They had moved on from beer to who could take the most tequila shots and when Tala realized he was way past the stage of just being mellow, he decided to call it quits. But Kai chose to take two more shots of Everclear, completely wasting himself.

The blonde was truly horrified as she eyed the vice captain who had eventually passed out on the floor, face flat, his jeans slightly lower than usual exposing more than just the hemming of his boxers. She looked over at Ray, "Is he dead!"

Ray burst out into a fit of laughter, "No!" He strolled over to the slate-haired teen sprawled over the carpeted ground before jerking him by the arm, "Yo Kai, get your ass up," As Kai murmured something indecipherable, both Tala and Ray lifted him onto the bed.

"He's completely hammered, guy," The redhead commented.

While her brother and Ray's work ended there, Evian couldn't help but feel a little worried. Of course, Kai was your average guy who liked to have a drink here and there with his buddies but...his drinking had become a little strange. He wasn't just drinking, he was drinking himself silly.

_Oh well_, Evian thought to herself, _Hilary can deal with it. _Then, before her brother finished up in the washroom, she ran to the girls' room, changed into her PJs, came back into the boys' room and quickly crawled into the redhead's bed, and sure enough when he came by and lifted up the covers only to see his other half curled up on the mattress, he was less than pleased, "Evian!"

"What!"

"What the hell, man!"

"I'm scared! You said there were going to be dead people under my bed and I just saw The Grudge!"

"Get off my bed, Blondie!"

"But I'm scared!" She pouted.

"Well what the hell am I supposed to do?" Dressed in a grey tank top and purple pajamas with animal prints all over them, she clasped her hands together and continued looking up at him with a puppy face until he gave in, "Fine. Don't kick me off the bed this time."

She stood up on her knees right away to get to his level and squeezed the life out of him, "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I love you!"

"Shut up." He pushed her away and got under the covers as well. Within minutes however, a shoving match begun, "Move over you fat ass!"

"I don't have a fat ass, Tala! Maybe your man boobs are taking up too much space! Why don't you get breast reduction! And stop hogging the entire blanket!"

"How many times do I have to tell you they're not man boobs? And it's my bed!"

"Be nice to me! I'm your sister!"

"You're such a baby, Evian! I can't even get a goodnight's sleep because of you!" The fighting and pushing and 'hogging' of the blanket continued throughout the night. By eight in the morning, the alarm went off and Tala wasn't surprised to find himself on the floor – without the blanket or his pillow. He stood up, annoyed, and looked over at his bed. She dominated it – sloppily of course, with her arms and legs all in different directions and her hair all over her face – like such a pig! With _his_ blanket and _his_ pillow! It was such a piss off! He resisted the urge to murder her in her sleep.

Muttering curse words under his breath he made his way over to the washroom and slammed the door shut so loud, it made Ray jump from his slumber and startled an extremely hung over Kai. Of course, it didn't bother Little Miss Heavy Sleeper as she continued dreaming about getting married to Taylor Lautner and having his babies.

Soon Kai, Ray, and Tala all got ready. "It's 8:45! Wake up!" The redhead shoved his sister, "Come on!"

"Stop!" She pulled the covers over her head, "Taylor didn't take off his shirt yet..." She mumbled.

All three boys made a face, clearly not wanting to know what the hell the young girl was visioning, "I don't care, Evian," Tala heaved the covers off, tossed them over to the empty bed beside his and did the next best thing: he lifted the mattress and tilted it to its side, making the blonde roll off the other side right onto the floor.

As Kai rolled his eyes at what happened next, Ray only laughed as the blonde had her younger twin in a headlock, the redhead desperately trying to free himself. Regardless of all the commotion, the entire team did make it on time for breakfast at 9 AM.

"I hope everyone slept well," Mr. MaCaffery started, "Because we're going to train extra hard today."

"Tala pushed me off the bed and my knee hurts; do I still have to train?" Evian questioned, taking a sip of her chocolate milk.

"Oh Evian," Mr. MaCaffery sighed, "Please don't be so immature all the time."

"But it really hurts, daddy," She whined, but with no reward or even an ounce of sympathy from her father. By now Mr. MaCaffery knew too well of his daughter's excuses to get out of training – and to skip school – as did the entire team.

"I want everyone, all six of you, to battle all at once today as a warm up," Mr. MaCaffery started. Training commenced shortly after breakfast, "Just to see where everyone falls in."

The blonde cringed. She already knew where she 'fell in'. Last.

"Alright everyone! 3, 2, 1!" All six members of the team readied their beyblades, "Let it rip!" And the big battle was underway.

With Kai and Tala being two of the best on the team, everyone wanted a piece of them. But not before Hilary took out Evian first just as a reminder of their dispute over Kai. Evian didn't know why; she thought she'd made it pretty clear by now she was completely into Pierre.

The blonde caught the flying beyblade and continued watching the remainder of the battle despite her quick loss. It was really starting to give her an idea of how good her brother really was and where everyone else ranked on the team. It seemed as if the captain and vice captain had unofficially formed an alliance together to fight off the other teammates. Mariah was the next one to be knocked out of the dish by Ray, who was in turn knocked out by Hilary.

"Alright Hilary, you're next," Tala smirked.

"Try me!" The brunette dared.

"Okay Wolborg! Novae Rog!" And there was no doubt that attack took out Hilary right away.

And just as the grey beyblade was making its way back down the dish, the vice captain pulled out his attack, "Dranzer! Now!" With one hit, Wolborg was done for and the conqueror of the entire battle was none other than Kai, flaring up his ego just a little bit.

Although Evian didn't know much of what was going on, she did pick up a few pointers for future reference.

"That was very entertaining," The coach clapped, "But I hope everyone knows what their weaknesses and strengths are after this little warm up."

For the next two hours, training resumed as normal. Even during break, Kai didn't stop training. He was fixated on one thing and _only_ one thing: winning. The thought of the little blonde girl giving him guidance in his own sport irritated the crap out of him. It caused him to lie awake at night wondering why she knew how to win and he didn't. He stared at Dranzer's bit chip, _never again_, he thought before launching it into the dish.

Training commenced after break and everyone worked hard.

Well almost everyone.

"I'm so sick of having a bit beast," Evian leaned her head against her brother's shoulder in an upset fashion.

"Pick up your beyblade and try again," Tala ordered. Evian felt as if her arms were going to fall off any minute from launching her beyblade so many times. And her voice was so sore from yelling at Stardust.

Evian took a deep breath before launching her beyblade one more time, "I will seriously die," She added in her usual dose of a complaint.

"That was a really good launch. Now call out Stardust,"

"No Tala, I'm not gonna, it's not fair, okay? How come Woodpecker listens to you all the time? You tell him to do something and he does it," Her shoulders slumped.

"Fine," The redhead gave in, completely ignoring the mistake Evian had made with Wolborg's name again, "Training's over anyway," He picked up the two beyblades and watched the blonde scurry out of the room before anyone else. But while everyone else was starting to leave, Tala showed no similar sign.

"Training was done ten minutes ago," Kai strolled over to the redhead.

"Not for me,"

"You need a break."

"Um, I think _you_ need a break, Kai. I don't know why you're going so hard on yourself," The redhead said, "Anyways, I have to keep training. Even if I don't want to, I have to."

"Why?"

"To compensate for Evian. All our battles are practically two-on-one and if you remember my last match, I was really rusty."

"Alright," Kai nodded in agreement. He knew just as much as Tala that Evian hated beyblading and she would never put in any effort into something she didn't like. And although trying to offset Evian's lack of skills in beyblading was a good idea, Kai knew it was going to put the team captain under a lot of pressure.

**x x x**

Lying on a beach towel sunbathing, attired in a simple black bikini with a Katy Perry song playing in the background from her iPod, Evian tipped down her D&G sunnies and stared up at Kool-Aid blue sky, dotted with so few clouds, she could count them all on one hand. The weather outside was so perfect, no one could ask for anything better.

And there was nothing in the universe that was capable of making her feel down at the moment. This was definitely the life. No beyblading, no teammates, no parents, no Stardust, no sexy Kai distracting the shit out of her, and most of all, no standards to live by.

"Hey there sexy boy's sister!"

Pulling one ear bud down, Evian pulled herself up and looked around towards the source of the voice, "Dakota?"

"Did you forget I live in California, missy?" The tousle-haired blonde took a seat beside Evian.

"Of course not!" Evian beamed, utterly happy to finally meet a friend. As usual, Dakota looked jovial. Her hair was loosely tied into a ponytail and she wore a flowing shirt over her teal coloured bikini. "Did you and Tala already meet up or something?"

Dakota shook her head, "He texted me and let me know he was in L.A. and I told him to see me when he was free."

"Training was over like an hour ago," Evian explained, "I'm sure he's just chilling with the guys. You wanna see him?"

"Sure, but," Dakota grinned, "You and I need to catch up first! Tell me what's going on with you and Kai! You two are all over the news,"

"Yeah," Evian sighed, "I don't even know why."

"Well it makes sense," Dakota rested her face in the palm of her hands, "He's seriously cute and you're totally gorgeous; I could see why the BBA would try to hook you guys up to make a story about it."

"Oh," Evian said, "That's so, like, dumb."

"Putting a strain on his relationship with Hilary, right?"

"I don't know," Evian shrugged her shoulders, "Tala told me not go get involved with them."

"God your brother is hot _and_ smart," Dakota literally had a starry look in her eyes.

"You sound like my friends Miriam and Evelyn; they talk about Tala and Kai like all the time and they have no limits about what they talk about. It's so nasty! And I tell them, I'm like, I'll seriously throw the eff up if you guys don't stop talking about my own brother like that, it's so disgusting!"

Dakota laughed, "Can't blame them. Anyways, how've you been?"

"I've been good," Evian said, "A little tired though,"

"I know what you mean. Sometimes mid-tournament I just want to withdraw and relax," Dakota took an intermission as she stared up at the sunny sky, "So anything new or unusual happen?"

_You'd never imagine..._ "Nope," Evian replied as she made circles in the sand with her finger.

The pair continued to converse about other random topics for about another hour or so before finally wrapping things up, "Anyways Evian, I gotta head back home."

"What about Tala?"

"I'll have to see him later on because I have some stuff to do," Dakota said, "Tell him I miss him and I really wanna meet up, though!" She said before giving the blonde a quick hug and running off with a wave which she returned. Evian decided it was best if she headed back to the hotel as well and as she walked, she lit up a cigarette. Once at her destination, she bumped into the redhead at the lobby.

"Guess what!"

"What?" He asked, tiredly walking with her towards the elevator.

"I saw Dakota," She could tell he was interested instantly, "We were at the beach all this time." She was a little taken aback when he looked at her angrily and walked off in a random direction, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Get lost," He said.

"What happened? I thought you'd be happy to hear about her,"

"While your ass was at the beach relaxing, my ass was in the training room making up for your mistakes. Otherwise I'd be able to see her."

"Jesus, I'm sorry," She raised her arms in defence, "Would you calm yourself? Give her a call; she said she wanted to see you." And he did just that, leaving Evian alone in the hotel lobby. With the help of the elevator, she made it to her floor. Once in her room, she was surprised to see Kai's grandfather, "Oh," She said, startled, "Hi,"

"Bonjour, Evian," He said, "I hope you've rested well. There are some things I need to give you," He stood up.

"Okay," Evian said, curious to know what she was about to receive.

"Here," He pulled out...

"A Blackberry!" Her eyes widened at the sexy sleek phone, the newest model.

"The bill has been paid for one-year. It includes long distance minutes, texting, GPS, Wi-Fi, and all the other important applications you'll need. You can use it however you like, but keep in mind that the main use is for your job."

She nodded, and then, "What if the others see?"

"You tell them your father got it for you,"

"Okay," She was so wowed by the phone and scared of it at the same time; what if she dropped it? Nonetheless, this was so much better than the cell phone she'd asked for! And way better than the junk Tala had! Ha!

"Make sure you always delete the messages that you and I exchange, just to be on the safe side," He watched as she played around with the phone, fascinated by the QWERTY keyboard and the fact that she could use the internet on it like she would on a computer, "And the most important thing: always, always, _always_ have your phone on you; I really cannot stress that enough."

She grinned as she held it close to her heart, "Mr. Blackberry will _always_ be with me!"

"You now also have a dual-citizenship," He said, holding an American passport, "Your father will be in charge of keeping this of course," He informed her, "Now for your identification..."

**x x x**

The redhead waited patiently in the outside patio of an L.A. restaurant for a certain tousle-haired girl. He eyed the phone that was resting on the table; nope, no missed calls or text messages yet.

"What's up, what's up?" The expected blonde haired girl made her way to the empty seat and took a seat, "You look good," She added.

"Likewise," He said truthfully.

"So what's up? How was France? Evian's been telling me about some guy, Pierre,"

"Yeah, Kai's half brother," The redhead said. He told her about how excited she was about her 'first kiss'.

"Aw, she's so cute, I swear," Dakota laughed, "She's never had a boyfriend before?"

Tala shook his head, "I don't think she can handle one. She can't even take care of herself. And I know her; she'd get bored of the guy way too fast. Two weeks in, she'd dump his ass,"

"And what can I get for you two?"

The legal age in Canada was nineteen. In America, it was twenty one. He knew he looked a lot older than just plain seventeen and almost never got asked for ID in Canada, but he didn't know if he could pull off looking as old as twenty one, "Can I get a Corona?" He tried his luck.

"Okay," The waitress then turned her attention to Dakota, "And for you?"

"Just Coke, please and thank you," Within a few minutes the waitress had come back with their ordered drinks. "So Mr. Sexy," The blonde sipped her drink using the straw, "Tell me something interesting about yourself."

"Uh," He searched his head for something 'interesting' about himself. How was he supposed to answer a question like that? He didn't want to brag! "I guess you'll just have to find out yourself," He played it cool.

"Oooh," She said in a sing-song voice, grinning.

"Yup," He leaned back in his seat, "I'm the patient and you're the nurse; you can do whatever you want to me, baby,"

"Is that so, Mr. Studmuffin?" The girl with sand blonde hair played with the straw in her drink, "I've always been one to experiment,"

"You like to experiment and I like to be experimented on. We make a great pair,"

Dakota chuckled, "You're too good." And she took it a step further when she decided to play footsies with him under the table.

He enjoyed every minute, every second, every _milli_second of her company. He tried to reminisce about some of his past girlfriends and tried to distinguish some of the differences. Sure, all the girls he'd gone out with previously were pretty, nice, but they all seemed to have some kind of blemish. Some liked to cause drama with his friends, some liked to cause a ruckus with other girls, some just weren't classy enough, and most of them, Evian just hated.

But Dakota seemed to be the type of girl with both her feet on the ground. And she looked the part too with her relaxed beachy waves, just a little bit of mascara, and a very casual wardrobe. Dakota wasn't a girly girl and she most definitely wasn't a tomboy; she was just right. _Just like a Pillsbury cookie out of the oven! Not too burnt on the bottom and not raw on the inside either!_ He wished, for the first time in his life, Evian would be here to whack him on the head for such a cheesy analogy.

Even if Dakota did have a flaw, he wasn't able to detect it yet – and prayed to God he never would. He'd never fallen for a blonde before – mainly because Evian kiiiiiinda scared him when it came to fair haired girls – and it was just so fresh and exciting and he didn't know what to expect.

And she wasn't the type of girl who expected him to call every other second. She called just as much as he did. She put in the same amount of effort he did, so it wasn't stressing at all. Independent, considerate, and entertaining were the first three traits he could think of for her. _Not to mention she's hot as fuck_, he added into his thoughts.

"Hey, isn't that Kai and Hilary?" Dakota pointed towards the streets. The redhead glanced over his shoulder and sure enough, Kai and the brunette were strolling the streets of Los Angeles to spend some 'quality' time. "You should call them over!" The blonde smiled.

"Yeah?" He pulled out his cell phone, "Alright," He gave the vice captain a call, "Yo Kai, come over. The restaurant right in front of you! Wow Kai, you're as dumb as Evian sometimes." He waved his arm, "You see me? Alright, hurry up." Tala and Dakota watched as Kai grabbed Hilary's hand and looked at the streets for traffic before jogging over to the other side.

"Hey," Kai greeted quickly, "How are you?"

"I'm good! Nice to see you two!" Dakota beamed, "Sit!" She said as she and Tala pulled two close-by chairs to their table.

"Can I get this table any drinks?" The waitress came by once again.

"Heineken, please?" The vice captain asked for his usual drink.

"Sure, anything else?"

"Cranberry orange juice vodka," Hilary added.

"Okay, I'll be right back!" The uniformed girl left the table.

"California's great," Kai started, "You're lucky to live here," He told Dakota.

"Thanks," She said, "You guys should come here over the summer for visits. We get infested with tourists," She laughed.

"I'm feeling chicken wings," The slate-haired teen declared to the table as he read the menu, "You guys?"

The redhead shrugged, "I'll eat anything, I'm starving," Several plates of chicken wing orders and a million words later, Dakota decided it would be a good idea to show the three around L.A. to finish off the day. After that, it was finally time to head home and Dakota insisted on walking the redhead back to the hotel.

"Would you relax?" Dakota chuckled at the hesitant red headed boy.

"Yeah, but I feel so," He paused, looking for the right word, "Unmanly?"

Dakota rolled her eyes, "It's the twenty-first century, Mr. Sexy. Now relax, hold my hand, and let me walk you back to your hotel!"

Kai and Hilary were a few paces in front of these two in an attempt to give them some alone time. Once in the corridors of their floor, the vice captain made a smart move to help out his friend, "I'm gonna be with Hilary," He told the redhead before walking off towards the girls room.

This most definitely provided the blonde and the redhead with 'alone' time.

"So did you have fun?" Dakota asked the first question.

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

The tousle-haired girl chuckled a little leaning against the wall. And he knew exactly what that meant. The signs were right there: her standing there defencelessly – on purpose, smiling as if she wanted him to do something about it, and the 'silence'. _Kiss her!_ He told himself.

This was it. _The_ moment he had been waiting for since he met Dakota. So he went in for the kill.

* * *

**QUESTION...** DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS FIC IS DRAGGING? Or is it just me? I know it's a bit slow – like the opening up of the plot and relationships and all that shizz – but personally, I don't want to rush and make it unrealistic. But you guys tell me: should I pick up the pace a little more or just stick to how I'm writing it? Because as far as I can tell, it's gonna be a long story and when I say long, I mean _loooong._ SO LET ME KNOW!

**FYI... **YES THIS IS KAI/EVIAN! How much more do I need to stress this?

**And...**if there are certain terms and stuff I'm using in this fic that you don't understand, Google it. For example, when I mentioned a phone in here, I was talking about the Blackberry Bold 9700 (which I'm going to get, bitches!), but I'm not actually going to go off topic and write what phone it is, what model, what series and blahblahblah...just use Google! Same goes for songs; I hate, hate, HATE when authors use the lyrics of an ENTIRE fucking song in their stories (sorry if you do this but it's annoying as hell!). For my stories, either I'll just mention the name of the song and the artist OR I will use just a LINE from the song and if you wanna know what it is then just copy and paste that line into Google and find out what it is!

**Warning...**I'd also like to mention again that I AM trying to make this fic realistic and it IS loosely based off personal life experiences so some of the things you read MAY be offensive to you. Words like 'nigga' has already been used and may appear again in the story; this is not meant to be racist. But keep in mind, this entire planet is offensive lol and everything is controversial – gays, lesbians, child porn, black people, white people, Indian people, morals, ethics, you name it.

**Story updates...**I'm going to try to post a chapter every week from now b/c I know most of you guys are probably over Beyblade lol and I need to hurry up! HOWEVER...I'm returning my laptop tomorrow (it belongs to the university) so I'm gonna need to buy another one...as soon as I get a job. Hopefully that's soon.

**Journal...**Lol I know I'm blabbing on and on – honestly you don't need to read all my ANs except the most important ones (which is why the subjects and bolded so you know which one you should read and which you can skip). But yeah, I just like to clue you guys into little details of my life sometimes lol. So about 3 weeks ago, I went out on a date with this guy...and omg...I cannot begin to EXPLAIN how it was. I'm just gonna make this entry SUPER short but in actual fact, I can write a novel about this date.

So basically, we go out, we watch a movie – he made me pay for the snacks... – and he tried to touch me in the theatres because I was wearing an off the shoulder top and I kinda just moved away. So then we head to a restaurant for dinner and I order a vodka cran and he orders a gin and tonic (I'm SORRY I find that girly...but it gets worse). So while I'm looking at the dinner menu trying to pick something, ALL of a sudden he goes "Hey, lets do shots" and I'm all "Wha!? Seriously?"

Keep in mind this is our FIRST date. So after convincing and stuff, I'm like "okay fine" but I add in the fact that I can't go home drunk b/c I'll be a bad influence on my bro and he's already seen some whacked out shit from me. So we head to Jack Astor's in downtown (this is all in Toronto if anyone's curious) and we head to the lounge area.

I start looking at the menu again and so does he...then...and omg...seriously omg...he orders a drink called Southern Kiss...SOUTHERN FUCKING KISS!!!!!! And I'm just sitting there going like.......shit. I don't know about you guys but I like manly guys, a beer-drinking kinda guy...not a fucking girly ass drink drinking guy! So he orders that, then he orders another girly drink I forget what its called and by now he's fucking tipsy.

Yes. Tipsy. Off a gin and tonic, a Southern Kiss...and another girly drink. And I'm just embarrassed out of my mind b/c the bartender – who was SERIOUSLY cute btw – kept looking at me, giving me a sympathetic stare. So then this ass goes "alright! Time for shots!" and orders shots. I only had one, he had 2...and this guy......OMG! HE WAS WASTED! W A S T E D D D D D! Like fucking GONE, okay. You don't understand.

We leave Jack's and I'm all "k, I need to get home" and he grabs my ass and shit in public :S Then he sits on the pavement for a while and everyone's just STARING...omg, so embarrassing. Then he asks for a hug like a million times, he couldn't even WALK omg! He was hanging off me I swear. And I'm not exaggerating, not one bit. So then I'm like "stay here I'm gonna get you water" and he's like "No I'm not drunk!"

...MY ASS YOU AINT DRUNK!

There's this store called the Condom Shack – lol tell me in your review if you know this store...or if you live in Toronto!!! – and he stands in front of it and starts pointing and shit at dildos and stuff...omg.

We get into the TTC – subway – and he can't find his metro pass and stuff...in the end, I had to drop him off at home and get home myself at 2 am. Next day my friend texts me and asks if I was in downtown with some hobo hanging off me...because he saw me!

Funny thing? This guy completely avoided me after that...no contact at all. I msged him to ask if he was okay, NO REPLY. Lol. Stupid ass.

But yes ladies – and gentlemen – that is my sad sad sad life. Honestly, how the fuck do you get fucking wasted off three girly ass drinks and 2 shots? Unbelievable.

**ANYWAYS...THANKS TO...**

**zeratheliger**

**native-kitten**

**kstar orange**

**c-doo**

**Blood Tainted Angel**

**just a girl**

**Fuurai**

**Crying Sorceress **– thanks for the correction! Lol. And yes, it was based off that song, I was listening to it at the time of writing it and I'm like 'hey! That fits!' haha! And the worst part about having WAY too many drinks is throwing up, good lord!

**Lithaerie**

**NightPredator – **Yes I've been kicked out! I know, its pretty horrible b/c it makes me feel so damn lost in life! And in order to get back into university I have to go to college first which is absolutely ridic! And they kicked me out b/c my GPA was low from first year...so even though I had one of the highest marks now, it just didn't go up to their 'standards'. Assholes.

**tWinKle*dAisY**

**Mister Melancholy – **I THINK YOU'RE A GIRL! LOL! B/c in your profile it says authoress!! Or are you a boy! Lol! And its so great to have old readers back!!


	30. Chapter 30

_I forgot that I might see so many beautiful things..._

**DLS**_30_

This was it. _The_ moment he had been waiting for since he met Dakota. His hands were already on her waist and their foreheads were touching. Her closed eyes and grip on his arms gave him the green light. So he went in for the kill.

Almost.

"Ew! What are you guys doing!"

Tala could literally feel smoke coming out of his ears attributable to Evian's random ass appearance and interruption of one of the best moments to-be of his life! He was _this_ close to kissing the girl of his dreams and his other half just had to show up and murder the mood! Why now? Of all times! What the flying fuck!? He felt like someone just kinda threw a rock at him or something! This must have been karma for all those times she was in the shower and he went in and flushed the toilet or turned off the lights! He didn't give a crap if Evian was a girl or if this was the direct result of karma, she was definitely getting an ass whooping today...after Dakota left.

Tala felt Dakota let go of him gradually and move away to avoid being even more embarrassed and tried to play it off as if nothing happened, "Hey Evian," The tousle-haired blonde retreated from the wall.

"Hi?" Evian still looked a little stunned, "Were you guys...busy?"

"What do you think?" The redhead looked over at Evian furiously. He watched as Kai came out of the girls' hotel room, Hilary following closely; he pointed towards Evian and just shrugged his shoulders, mouthing a 'sorry'.

"I don't know," The blonde continued to eye the two suspiciously, "I was just innocently walking down the hallway and I see you two like this," She smushed her two index fingers together, "So you tell me..." At this, Hilary shook her head and exhaled out loudly while Kai held his breath and tried really hard to suppress laughter.

Tala smacked his own forehead in disbelief; talk about exaggeration! They hadn't even kissed yet! "We were not like _this_!" He did the same hand gesture, but in her face to express his annoyance.

"Um," Dakota scratched her head and looked towards the ground, the awkwardness taking a toll on the young girl, "I'm just gonna go home now," She announced, "Bye guys!" She jogged off and caught the open elevator.

Once Dakota was out of sight, Tala looked back at his sister, fury, resentment, anger, irritation, and all those things written all over his face. And Evian being Evian, she just looked confused.

"You're so stupid, Evian," He just didn't know what else to say or do! He approached her and stood about a foot away from her, "You're a dumb blonde, Evian! You're such an idiot! You'll be lucky if Pierre even likes you back because as far as I can tell, _no _guy will ever be crazy enough to go for you! You don't have a brain or common sense or anything! There's nothing good about you!" Each and every shout and finger-pointing startled her. She just couldn't understand why he was so mad – so mad to the point where he felt the need to call her all those incredibly mean things.

"I'm sorry?" Was all that managed to come out of her.

"I don't know why the hell you and I are brother and sister. We're so fucking different! I wish we were never related! You kill my brain cells by just being around me! Don't come to me for help when you flunk out of high school and don't have a life," With that he walked into his room and slammed the door shut so loud, she flinched.

Normally a sibling's hurtful comments wouldn't hurt you...unless they were partially true. She _was_ failing calculus and nearly every other course, she didn't know what she was doing with her life, she didn't fit in with this team and no one liked her either and probably due to good reason. She'd been called a dumb blonde by even strangers so it must have had some truth to it. Was she really that stupid? And dumb? Was she a complete ditz? Did her brother really hate her and wish she was never his sister? Did her parents feel the same way? Maybe they, too, wished she was never their daughter. But she tried to be a good sister, a good daughter, a good student, a good friend and teammate and a good 'everything'. She really did.

Wasn't that enough?

_Oh Miss MaCaffery, haven't you learned? Trying gets you nowhere, hun, it's your actions that count_, said her conscious in sheer mock. When she felt her lips quiver and her eyes water, she made a run for it to avoid Kai and Hilary.

"Well that went well," The brunette remarked sarcastically, "I'm gonna get some rest, Kai. Wake me up before dinner."

This left Kai alone in the hallway to ponder for a few seconds.

He tried to think about how he felt about the situation.

It made him feel so bad to watch such a cheerful, jovial, and naive girl like Evian run off crying. He tried not to feel bad – why should he? After all, he didn't even like her all that much because, like Tala said, she was such a blonde! He tried to be logical with himself but something else wasn't letting him: a strange feeling in his chest. He tried to block it off frantically. He tried to block _her _off.

But it proved much difficult.

She was so very fragile and didn't even fight back. Every time he replayed the scene it made him feel about a hundred times worse than how upset he felt previously. He had been on the team long enough to see exactly what kind of relationship Evian and Tala shared. They got along most of the time but got into fights very fast which were often also resolved very fast. But sometimes, Tala just shot her down so brutally and she just couldn't get back up.

_And how is this any of my damn business?_ After all, it couldn't be that serious; it was just a sibling fight and siblings fought all the time; that's what made them siblings in the first place! But he tried to think about why Evian would take Tala's words so seriously unless she thought extremely highly of him. Something inside him was telling him to go after her. _But what about Hilary? _He questioned himself, only to receive no answer. _But Evian..._

To avoid having a mental feud with himself in the middle of a five-star hotel like a crazy man, he made up his mind to go after the blonde. After all, he _was _vice captain and she _was_ his teammate and he _did_ have certain job requirements! Right?

He hadn't a clue where she was. Well, there were the obvious ones: the mall or even the spa. But then again, she probably wouldn't be in such a public place when she was in tears. Maybe she was out having a smoke? He checked around the hotel but there was no sign of the blonde. He looked here, there, everywhere, wondering where she could have run off to in such a short time. He paced towards the beach casually speculating where to look next. He strolled across the sand and subconsciously looked towards the dock and as luck would have it, he spotted Evian, and when he did, a very strange feeling settled into his heart. Once again, he tried to fight it off, debating again with himself whether going near the blonde would be a good idea or not.

He felt as if there was an invisible leash attached to him, Evian having control over it, literally pulling him towards her despite his will. When he got there, he looked over at what she was doing before making his presence known to her. Everything was dramatic – her crying, her shoulders moving up and down with each sob, her posture. But there was one thing in particular that made the entire scene absolutely comical: the packet of Skittles in her hands.

"Hey Blondie,"

She looked back at him with a pouty face and black streaks done by her eyeliner and mascara.

"Go away!" She said out loud before crossing her arms and looking back at the ocean. Nonetheless, he took a seat beside her anyway. "Tala is so mean!" Her earlier statement completely contradicted the spillage of her feelings, "I never say mean things to him!"

"It's okay,"

The theatrical crying began again, a little more noisily this time, "He's so rude!"

"He didn't mean any of it,"

"Calling me dumb," She popped a yellow Skittle into her mouth and chewed on it for a few minutes before, "Do I ever make fun of his funny hair? And his pasty white skin! Or the fact that he's totally gay sometimes! You know he used my lip balm once! It was strawberry flavoured! But did I tell anyone? No!"

Although the blonde was in a state of complete and utter seriousness, Kai found this downright humorous. He felt as if he was sitting next to a five year old whose parents didn't get her the toy she wanted. There was just so much innocence to Evian, so much that he couldn't even comprehend it. She was unlike most seventeen year old girls. She was clueless about so much in life, her idea of a party was getting together with Miriam and Evelyn and eating brownies and doing each others' nails, her definition of the 'worst day' of her life was getting split ends in her hair; she was dense about other fundamental matters as well.

"And...and..." She gave herself a few seconds, "And he eats sandwiches with the crusts cut off! And he makes me clip his nails! And you know, sometimes he gets scared and stuff and comes sleeps in my bed too! And I don't tell anyone these things! He even secretly watches all the girly shows with me! Like The Hills, Oprah, What Not To Wear!"

"Oh," The funny thing was, she wasn't badmouthing her brother at all – well at least not to him. She was just saying a whole bunch of seriously hilarious things about him.

"Maybe I am dumb," She concluded, "Maybe I am all of those things..."

"You're not,"

"Yeah I am," She argued, "Stardust doesn't listen to me, Hilary hates me and I don't know why, I say the dumbest things, and today..."

"It's not your fault, Evian,"

"They were so close. Ew. It was horrible because that's not something I wanna see, you know!" She took a deep breath before letting her shoulders slump and sighed, "And he just met her! I want him to take his time with these kinda things, I don't want him making a mistake; doesn't he know he's not supposed to rush in?"

"Well that's what happens when two people like each other. They get to know each other, which he did, they hold hands, which they do, and then they kiss, which they were about to do,"

"Nuh uh, nuh uh," She shook her head in disagreement, "He's moving too fast with her,"

"He's old enough to make his own decisions," The bluenette defended his friend. There was silence between the two as they just observed the breathtaking view of the indigo coloured ocean with waves, the perfect pale blue sky speckled with white fluffs of cloud here and there and of course, the center of attention, the golden sun. It was all too beautiful to just watch and not do anything about it and thus an idea formed in the vice captain's head, "Let's jump,"

"What!" Was her understandable and highly reasonable response; the dock was situated a good ten or so feet above the water.

"Yeah," He took off his shirt and threw it on the wooden quay, "Come on!"

"No way!"

"Can't you swim?"

"Kind of," She replied, "Not that well! I'm not jumping! Are you crazy! If you're suicidal, no problem, jump and die!" But she noticed his mischievous grin, "I'm not doing it!" She looked terrified but that was all the more fun for him.

"Don't be a pussy," He grabbed her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. "The water's shallow,"

"Wait! Not in my clothes!"

"Who cares?" After all, she was only in a jean mini skirt and a black camisole with a pair of flip flops.

"Oh my god! Wait! No! I don't wanna get eaten by a shark!" And she most definitely did not wanna die with a pervert! But it was too late. She was a girl of only 5'5, weighing about ninety-something pounds and he was a guy who worked out a few times a week and towered over her so it wasn't unforeseen when he overpowered her. He dragged her off the dock with him, leaping right into the ocean. She was in complete panic-mode with her eyes tightly shut and there was a churning feeling in her stomach, the kind you get when a roller coaster ride takes the big plunge; she didn't even realize she'd stopped breathing before even getting off the dock. It all happened so fast, she didn't even have the time to let out a scream. Once on the surface, he still didn't let her go since she made it quite evident she had a fear of water.

He stared at her and it looked like she didn't even know what the hell hit her. She just floated there, wiping the water off her face trying to comprehend the event. He prepared himself for the endless complaints he was about to hear about her hair and her clothes and a million other things he was about to be bombarded with.

Or maybe she was about to rip his head off, maybe even drown him!

Nonetheless, he was surprised to hear her laughing, "Oh my god! Kai! Let's do that again!"

"Yeah?" He chuckled, proud to have been the one person to make her laugh.

She nodded excitedly, "That was way fun!"

"Let's go get ice cream,"

"Really! Okay! I want Cookie Dough!" Once on the shore, they looked like complete idiots soaked from head to toe in their normal clothing. And Evian couldn't help but literally gawk audaciously at a seriously gorgeous shirtless Kai standing right in front of her. And it really didn't make matters easier with the fact that he was wet with water dripping down his hair and his effing hot body. And would you take a look at those arms? Damn, boy.

And she was flooded with those same feelings from a few days ago: the butterflies in her stomach, the lump in her throat, the pee feeling! The last sensation was the strangest of all! She'd never experienced that one with any other guy before, not even with Pierre. In all seriousness, it kind of bothered her.

_Oh help me Lord..._ "So yummy," She thought out loud in a whisper as she looked at the vice captain dreamily picturing him dressed up in a fire fighter costume looking super sexy. Oh man, droolage!

"What?"

She went red as she snapped out of her daydreams, "Yummy ice cream, obviously!"

"Oh okay," Before heading across the street to the Dairy Queen he scooped up his ditched t-shirt from the dock.

Evian was on cloud nine when he didn't bother putting it on however. And she wanted so badly to stop thinking this way. _Think of Pierre! They look the same!_ She told herself, but for some reason, Pierre wasn't even coming into the picture. Neither was Brooklyn. Neither was Enrique. Neither was any other cute guy. It was all Kai.

In truth, she felt like such a little slut. The guy had a goddamn girlfriend – a girlfriend who hated Evian's guts – and here she was, musing over Kai, thinking of Kai in ways she really shouldn't be thinking about, and even spending time with him when she probably wasn't supposed to.

After four scoops of Cookie Dough ice cream in a cup, the blonde and the bluenette went back to their spot on the edge of the dock. "Holy macaroni," Evian started as she licked her spoon, "This is so good."

"What happened to all the calories and fat and stuff?"

Evian rolled her eyes at the vice captain as she continued taking spoonfuls of ice cream. She felt like she deserved a treat for once in her life! Besides, how could anyone deny ice cream? There was stillness for a few minutes before the vice captain broke it, "Is Hilary supposed to know about this?"

Evian shrugged her shoulders, "How should I know?"

He sighed, "We'll just keep it between us then,"

"Okay," She gave a quick nod. Was it wrong? Were they doing something wrong? Did hiding it imply they were doing something they weren't supposed to? She wasn't sure but she left the decision up to him. Suddenly a few beeps were heard. She watched Kai take out his cell phone to check something before letting her see it:

_Text Message From: Tala – 647 838 9172_

_wheres ev?_

"What do you want me to say to him?" Kai asked.

"Um," Evian knew she couldn't ask Kai to lie; he wouldn't do it. Kai and Tala were extremely close friends and he wasn't going to do something stupid to put their friendship in jeopardy. And she didn't want that either. "Whatever," She finally said, passing the phone back to him.

"You want me to tell him you're with me?" Kai watched her move her shoulders up and down in an all too familiar gesture, "Well maybe," He started saying as he pressed a few things on his phone, "Maybe I just didn't get his text message..."

Evian peered over and observed as the bluenette deleted the message in question. She presented him with an approving smile before the two carried on with their ice cream.

**x x x**

The redhead recklessly searched the streets of L.A. to look for his 'other half'. _She didn't deserve it_, he thought guiltily. She'd done so much for him; she always went out of her blonde little ways for him only to have him turn his back on her.

But...she was just so easy to take his anger and frustration out on. And he always found himself doing so. Maybe thing would have been different if he had a brother instead or if Evian wasn't the way she was.

He couldn't understand how they were brother and sister in the first place, let alone being twins for that matter. They were so ridiculously different, it wasn't funny. Sometimes he even wondered whether he or she was adopted or the babies got switched at the hospital. It just didn't make sense.

He didn't know whether it was him or her who wasn't fitting in.

He was known for being the studious one, always on top of his work. It didn't come easy for him; he put in a lot of effort and hard work to get to where he was today. School wasn't easy, he had to go to class, he had to take notes, he had to read his books, he had to study for tests and quizzes and do assignments with a lot of care. It was the same with beyblading: lots of practice, dedication, and skill requirement. And still, there was loads of room for progress for him.

And Evian was the complete opposite of all this. Studious was something that probably wasn't even part of her vocabulary. She never tried for anything and she never put in any endeavour. She tried to skip classes as much as she could, avoided doing assignments, never studied for a quiz or test unless her parents or even he really made her do it. She was the most happy-go-lucky person he'd ever met. So unmotivated, so completely lazy.

He knew both his parents and himself were partially to blame for that: they spoiled her. She got anything and everything she wanted, be it money or clothes or even getting out of punishment. He remembered the past, when they were both little, she always managed to get out of a 'timeout' while he served his penalty. With her corn blonde locks, big sea green orbs, soft pinks cheeks, cute clothes and her secret weapon – one little puppy face, just like the one she'd pulled on him last night – she was able to control everything and everyone around her.

Unfortunately for him, this stopped working when he was around ten years old. On the contrary, Evian was still going strong at seventeen with her 'secret weapon'.

Typical blonde, spoiled rotten to the core.

He instinctively entered an L.A. mall. He knew Evian was in here, down to the exact floor, exact store; he knew her precise location. This kind of thing only happened occasionally and he could never explain it. Very rarely, he could even tell what she was thinking about, but this was something he never revealed to Evian. She'd probably get creeped out.

In fact, there was a lot he didn't tell her.

The redhead halted in the middle of the food court. This time he relied on his judgement. _Burger King? No. Taco Bell? Uh, probably not. McDonald's? Hell no._ He made his way towards Starbucks and at a table for two nearby, there she was, sipping on a double chocolaty chip Frappuccino like some kind of diva. She looked towards the skylight ceiling and sat cross legged with one leg swaying as if she was in complete bliss and didn't have a care in the world. She had at least four or five shopping bags around her from various stores such as Abercrombie and Fitch, Garage, Aritzia, and even Chanel. He didn't dare think about what she bought from the last store or how much she spent; their father could deal with that dilemma!

As he had suspected from the beginning, Kai was with her, but the poor guy must have been completely drained after Evian's extensive shopping rampage; with his elbow on the table he let his head rest in the palm of one hand and had his eyes closed, appearing to squeeze in a little bit of sleep. He didn't even look that tired after training.

The redhead finally decided to make his appearance. He came from behind the blonde and placed his hands over her eyes, "Guess who,"

"Well it better be Shia Labeouf," Came her reply, "With an engagement ring." She added.

"K, I'm way better than Shia the beef," The redhead took a seat beside the blonde.

"Shut up," Evian rolled her eyes, "Don't diss. He drives a Camaro."

"Yeah, in a _movie_," The redhead looked over at Kai, who was now wide awake, "I texted you, man."

"I didn't get no text," The bluenette lied effortlessly.

"Anyways," The blonde started, "Why are you here?" She said in the bitchiest tone she could muster. With the blonde hair and the attitude, it worked well. She could be quite the mean girl when she wanted to.

"I came here to say sorry,"

"Apology not accepted," The blonde crossed her arms.

"I'll get you ice cream?"

"Kai already got me ice cream."

"Hey!" The redhead furrowed his eyebrows at the vice captain, "That's my job!"

Kai only shrugged in reply before getting up, "Gotta take a leak,"

Evian looked at him grossly, "Ew..."

"Ev, I'm sorry," The redhead continued after his friend's timely departure, "I was just mad."

"Okay, fine," She gave in. Whether he meant it or not, she didn't know. But she did know that when a person used 'sorry' so many times, it lost its value. Besides, if he really, really, really liked Dakota that much, she just couldn't argue about it.

"So what are you doing here with Kai?" He finally asked. "Aren't you worried about what Hilary's going to say about this?"

"She doesn't have to know,"

"That's wrong, Evian. Come on, you know that."

"Well we're just shopping. Besides, you're here now so she can't really say anything."

"Kai's just a nice guy but you can't just go out with him like this. He's gonna have issues with Hilary."

"We're not doing anything wro - "

"I know you guys aren't doing anything wrong," He cut her off and finished her sentence for her, "But she doesn't want you hanging out with him."

"Why? We're on the same team. How the hell are we supposed to avoid each other? I even go to school with him. I don't understand. Why is she doing this?"

"She's insecure," He said simply, "She's not as pretty as you." He pinched her cheek.

"Aw!" She grinned, "Tala, that's so sweet!" She had her hands grasped together with her drink on the table unattended – a perfect opportunity for him to steal it and quickly finish the rest, "Okay, that was _so_ not sexy." Was her only comment.

"Ready to go?" Kai had come back from 'taking a leak'.

"Let's get outta here," The redhead said, getting up from his seat and tossing the empty drink container into the garbage.

Evian grabbed her belongings, "We should watch a movie!"

"We have training soon, Ev," Said the reasoning brother.

"Oh come on," Evian rolled her eyes, "Don't be such a life ruin-er. Let's watch that movie with Gerard Butler! He's so damn sexy! Don't you think?"

"You're seriously a dumb ass. Settle for a guy more age appropriate."

"As long as he's not younger than me, who cares? Besides, a guy is like a purse: cute, sexy, goes with what you're wearing, and completes you." She earned an offensive look from the two, "And you can ditch them any time and get a newer, sexier, cuter purse!" She added to the insult.

"And we get in shit for saying stuff like how a woman's place is the kitchen," Kai sighed.

"Don't worry! One day I'll find my classic black Chanel purse that never goes out of style! Like Ashton Kutcher."

The redhead pretended to gag, "Ugh, Evian you're gonna make me sick. Anyways," He turned his attention to Kai, "I was talking to Dakota. She was asking if we wanna go out tonight."

"What? Clubbing?"

"Yeah,"

"Oh my god, you guys are so bad. Pretty soon you'll both be fat and ugly and have wrinkles with all that alcohol."

"Shut up," The redhead said.

"You can come too," The bluenette told Evian.

"Uh, no she can't," Tala cut in, "I'm going with Dakota, you're going with Hilary, Ray's probably going with Mariah."

There was something very unsettling about what the redhead said that bothered Evian, "Does it look like I need a man?" She popped her sunnies down, over her eyes, "And I already have the most loyal life partner in the world anyways,"

For a second or two, both Kai and Tala really did think she was being serious and talking about an actual animate boy she must have fallen in love with…

…that was before she waved the beach themed _MasterCard_, "Love at first sight I tell you," She added with a grin.

"Yeah we'll see where all that love goes when he's all maxed out..." Tala remarked.

The trio made it to the hotel in time for dinner and Evian took this opportunity to whip out her new cell phone. "Be jealous, little one," She eyed the redhead, whose mouth was hanging open in envy.

"You got her a seven hundred dollar phone and you won't get me a Beamer?" Tala slouched in his seat with his arms crossed like a baby, "That's unjust dad. You have two kids."

"Well duh, obviously I'm the better looking one," Evian threw the redhead a cheeky grin.

"I love the both of you equally," Mr. MaCaffery declared.

_Yeah right_. Surprisingly, this wasn't only Evian's thought; it was Tala's as well.

"Anyways, I have some very good news," The brown haired man smiled and the team looked eager to hear what he had to say, "It's in regards to Enrique."

Evian gasped, "Oh! My! God! Like, seriously?"

"He's okay now," Mr. MaCaffery said, "Very healthy and in great condition."

"Can we go visit?" The blonde asked.

"Well, he's offered to come and visit us instead,"

Evian gave her trademark cheery grin, "I can't wait!"

"This is such good news," Mariah added, "I'm so glad he's okay and doing well."

"When is he coming?" The vice captain asked.

"Tomorrow morning,"

"I'm like so excited right now, it's not even funny! Enrique and I are totally going shopping together!"

"Oh that reminds me," Tala started before pointing his finger towards Evian, "She spent almost a grand shopping today using _your_ card, dad," This snitching earned him a kick from under the table that was going to leave a mark.

The team engaged in rigorous training right after dinner. As usual, training came packed with Evian's complaining, "Daddy, I'm gonna die!"

Mr. MaCaffery chuckled, "You're not going to die, pumpkin," He patted the blonde on the head. "Just listen to Tala, and you'll do fine."

And there it was, the dreaded 'Just listen to Tala' which had variations consisting of 'Look what Tala is doing' or 'Just follow him' or even 'Let your brother take care of the matter'. It was always like this and it was going to be like this for the rest of her life. She bet if she had kids, her parents would ask her to put them under her brother's care. _I can take care of my own babies!_ She thought to herself.

She was starting to get really nauseous of her parents always asking her to 'be more like Tala'. How the heck was she supposed to do that? Dye her hair red? Get blue contacts? Bleach her skin a couple of shades lighter? Get some kind of leg operation and become taller? A brain transplant perhaps? Chop off her breasts and get a penis?!

But the one question that kept coming back to her and always remained unanswered was…what was so good about him?

"Evian!"

"What?"

"Stop spacing out and thinking about Taylor and Shia and Ashton and Pierre and stuff!"

"Okay, okay! Go overdose on some chill pills!" The blonde defended herself.

"Besides! I'm way hotter than all those guys put together,"

The blonde looked at her brother crazily, "You wish, fugly." Training continued despite Evian's efforts to get out of it and as usual, the redhead trained an extra hour and a half before heading back to his room.

"So what time we heading out?" Ray asked regarding the plans for the night.

Although he was extremely worn-out and would do anything to just fall asleep, he knew cancelling or even changing plans wasn't going to be possible, "Twelve-ish," Tala answered.

"Nuh uh, we're leaving now mister," In walked Dakota, Mariah, and Hilary their arms linked together as if they were all complete BFFs, glammed up, ready to head out. While Mariah stuck to neutral tones, picking a beige strapless bandage dress, Hilary went for a more simpler look, dressing in an LBD – little black dress – and Dakota decided to throw in some colour, going for a strapless ruffled yellow number. There was no doubt that all three girls looked absolutely gorgeous – or in male terms, 'hot'.

"So hurry up and get ready!" Mariah grinned, going up to her step brother and messing up his hair in a teasing manner.

Nonetheless, while everyone was in a mood to go out and party all night long and while Tala wanted to give Dakota all the attention in the world, he couldn't help but notice the absence of the perky girl that was just so excited to go out tonight, "Where's Evian?"

**x x x**

Leaning against the brick wall, Evian exhaled out the smoke. With one hand stuffed into the pocket of her jean mini skirt, she looked towards the night-time Californian atmosphere. Smiling to herself, she already knew that this is where she was going reside when she was older. With a sexy husband, a gorgeous million dollar condo, a candy coated red Audi R8, a cute son that would always be dressed in Ralph Lauren, a thousand pair of Jimmy Choo heels, her life would be set.

Dare to dream Ms. MaCaffery...

"Wa gwanin' baby?"

Turning her head to face Marshal and Tyson, Evian grinned. "So bored, it's not even funny," Tyson and Marshal had befriended each other during the course of the tournament and seemed to get along great. But she knew a rigid friendship of nine years with her brother was going to be hard to forget and a best friend was always hard to replace...even for guys.

The brunette chuckled before holding something white and rolled, similar to a cigarette, but a little bigger, "You wanna burn?"

The blonde shook her head, "I don't do weed,"

"Man, you're missing out," Tyson said, borrowing the lighter from Evian, lighting up his spliff. While the blonde finished up her smoke, Marshal and Tyson tried to achieve a high. "Let's do something,"

"Like?" Evian flicked the butt away and eyed her blue-haired acquaintance.

Marshal took a long inhale, "Let's tear up the town."

"Sweet," Tyson nodded, "Let's take Hiro's ride for a spin,"

Deviancy getting the best of her, Evian couldn't help but smirk, "Let's!" She retreated from the wall, "Let me get my purse! Stay here, I'm gonna be right back!" She said before running off into the hotel. Once in her room, she picked up her purse, dumped some extra cash in it, grabbed a cardigan, and left the room and proceeded to wait for the elevator.

When downstairs, she bumped into her other half, the rest of her team, and Dakota in the lobby.

"Why are you running? Aren't you coming with us? I was looking for you!" Typical things said by the redhead.

"Uh, I'm going out?" She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Well it was! Why else was she in such a hurry, right?

"What do you mean you're going out?" Tala made a face, "With who? Did you forget _we_ were going out?"

She didn't forget. But she knew he didn't want her around so why was he making such a deal about it now? Kai and Hilary were going together, Dakota and Tala were coupling up, and Mariah and Ray was a pair for the night and she didn't exactly have a date. Not that she needed one; she'd gone through her entire existence without a boy and she sure as hell wasn't ready to be tied up to one right now...but she didn't want to feel like a third wheel. And she didn't exactly feel like wearing a skimpy dress and look like a prostitute and dance with a million random guys tonight.

"Was it because of what I said? I was only kidding; you can come," He said.

"I don't really wanna..."

"Uh, okay..." He gave his sister a funny and unbelieving look, "Then where the hell are you going? Wait, are you mad at me? And you didn't tell me who you were going out with!"

She made a noise of frustration and could literally feel her brain melting into goo, "Tala! Too many questions!"

But her impatience told him she was most likely about to do something extremely impulsive and beyond stupid. Oh how well he read her, "Ev, tell me where you're going,"

"God, you are _so_ effing annoying," She rolled her eyes, "I'm going out just like you're going out! Bye!"

In order to avoid further questions, Evian made a dash for the parked black 2006 Honda Civic SI on the other side of the road, with Three 6 Mafia's _Shake My_ blaring from it.

"Ev!"

Laughing to herself, she didn't look back and kept running like a jail escapee, cardigan in one hand, purse in the other, her Chuck Taylors nearly slipping off, wisps of corn blonde hair flying around. She felt like a bird, so free, so limitless, so untamed. She knew Tala was going to stop her, play '20 Questions' with her – as if he didn't do that with her already! – and then not let her go, thus ruining her fun.

Knowing her brother, he'd be all logical and shit, using reason and his brain. And Evian? She was using solely her heart and her instincts and her drive for having fun was much more intense than whatever common sense her brother could ever provide. Couldn't Tala just _not_ watch out for her once and just let her be the blonde she was?

So what if Tyson didn't have his licence and was a little high? So what if she was hanging out with her brother's ex best friend? It was all harmless! Grabbing a seat in the back, she heaved herself forward, "Go! Just go!" She patted Tyson on the shoulder frantically.

From the other side, the redhead looked horrified. Once Tyson revved the engine and floored it smack dab in the middle of the busy Los Angeles roads, chills were sent all over his body.

Tala knew damn well Tyson was driving under the influence and without a permit, a completely deadly combination. If anything happened to Evian, Tala would die by the hands of his own parents - literally. She was his responsibility! His parents made it pretty clear by now, mentioning it at least ten times a day; he might as well get a tattoo of it on his arm! How could she be so stupid? Why did she always have to put him in the situation where he had to worry his ass off? Why did she have to scare the shit out of him all the time?

But this was the first time he'd seen this side of Evian: _completely_ and _utterly_ defiant to him. She didn't even answer his questions for god's sake and ran away mid-conversation. Usually she listened to him, took his advice, and most notably, she actually gave him all the details of her whereabouts and told him everything in general – including things he didn't need to know like when she got her period, which of course was quite the horror for Tala. Overall, she gave him a lot of respect. But today, nothing.

"Hiro's gonna kill Tyson for taking his car again," Dakota rolled her eyes, "He's such an idiot sometimes."

There was absolutely no way Tala was going to be able to enjoy his time going out now. He was plain scared. And a little upset; although Evian denied it, he knew she was slightly pissed off at him for what he said earlier. The girl wasn't a good liar and who better to know than someone who grew up with her for the last seventeen years of her life? "I'll catch up with you guys later," He finally told his team and Dakota, "I have to go find her before my dad finds out and beats my ass with a rolling pin,"

Before he could take the taxi for himself, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Kai.

"Don't," He said.

The redhead looked at Kai as if was crazy.

"Let her,"

What was he _saying_? Tala rolled his eyes. Blood was thicker than water; while he was literally sweating in fear of what might have, could have, and would have happened to Evian if he didn't stop her, Kai looked indifferent.

"You've never done anything crazy in your life, Tala?"

The redhead answered Kai's question – mentally. He'd done a lot of stuff he wasn't supposed to. Drinking underage, carrying fake IDs to get into clubs, going over the speed limit almost all the time, sleeping over at his girlfriend's house and lying to his parents about it, getting high off pot himself a couple of times with Marshal.

But still, this was _Evian_...

"Let the girl grow up."

And that's exactly what Tala was afraid of doing: letting Evian 'grow up'. Although she'd held off on most things other girls her age did to 'grow up', she was still a young girl who hadn't explored many things yet. And he knew just how much of a curious person Evian was.

He just hoped her curiosity didn't involve promiscuousness with the opposite sex, drugs, and anything and everything equally negative.

**x x x**

Evian took a bite out of her sandwich and took a sip from her apple juice, "Today was _the_ best day of my life, I swear,"

"You need to get out more, shit," Tyson said, pigging out on the pizza their table had ordered.

"Yo guy, burning always makes me so hungry," The brunette declared, helping Tyson finish the extra large pizza.

"Word," Nodded the blue-haired boy. The trio decided to end their night off with a trip to a small local restaurant.

The Blackberry on the table suddenly lit up and vibrated, "I swear that better not be Tala again, he's such an ass,"

Tyson looked up, fixing his hat, "The man calls you more than he calls Dakota,"

"He's such a pain in the butt," Evian sighed before picking up the phone. It was a text message, not a call. She'd gotten plenty from the redhead – most of them along the lines of 'where r u?' and 'ur fking retarded u fking dumbass' and 'i h8 u' and 'im nvr talking 2 u again' and the list went on. She expected this one to be from him too. But it wasn't. She didn't have this number saved in her contacts. _get arrested yet?_ it read.

"Who...is...this?" Evian texted, reading her message out loud.

Within seconds, the phone vibrated again with a new message: _kai._

Smiling, she replied: _lol no butthead i didnt. _This was followed by: _damn i was picturing u w/ handcuffs._

Evian only chuckled at the text before placing the phone back on the table, turning her attention back to Tyson and Marshal. Dinner and a cigarette later, the blonde was dropped off at the hotel she was staying at. Her Coach purse hung off her shoulder and she pulled on her cardigan instead of buttoning them up as she walked towards the hotel. A satisfied smile crept across her lips. She really needed that outing with Marshal and Tyson, it was just so much fun. The last time she had fun was probably in Toronto with Miriam and Evelyn, two people she missed _dearly_. Tyson and Marshal were no Miriam and Evelyn, but they were amazing guys, so entertaining, so real, she just couldn't get enough of it.

For hours they drove around Los Angeles, music loud as hell, speeding on the highway, even racing a random car on the streets. The day was full of jokes – dirty ones included – and laughs. The best part? Stopping at a neighbourhood and playing Nikki Nikki 9 Doors! She'd never run around so much in her life! The fear of getting caught was so invigorating!

Nearing the entrance of the hotel, she noticed a taxi pull into the driveway. When Mariah stepped out of the vehicle, Evian knew her team and brother had also come back. She debated with herself for about two seconds whether she should hide and come back later; she really didn't want to be showered with Tala's endless questions and scolding.

Scratch shower. Haha! It would be more like a fatal blizzard in Antarctica she'd never manage to survive.

_Run_. The voice in her head told her. Biting her bottom lip, she turned the other way and prepared to scurry away before being seen.

"Evian!"

The blonde stopped, her shoulders upward, her facial expression one of distaste. She looked over her shoulders, "Oh! Hey!" She smiled, "I didn't see you guys," She lied. She then realized it was only 1 AM, "Why are you guys back so early?" She was sure they'd come back much later, maybe even past four in the morning. The only reason Evian had come so early was because of her late night training with Donatien.

Mariah rolled her eyes, "You don't wanna know,"

"We got kicked out," Said Ray simply.

Walking over to the group, Evian asked, "Why?"

"Because of your idiot brother," Hilary crossed her arms.

Immediately Evian looked panicked. What had he done? Was he involved in a fight? Was he hurt? Or did he beat the shit out of someone? Did _he _get arrested? What the hell did he do!

Her questions were answered when a seriously drunken redhead stumbled out of the car. She watched as her brother fell towards the pavement before being helped up by Kai.

"Oh my god..." Evian said.

"He's gone," Ray laughed, "He was so worried about you that he wasn't having fun so Dakota jacked him up with drinks."

Evian exhaled out loudly. She _kinda _expected a little more from Dakota. "This is so gay," He couldn't even stand up, his face was flushed, his clothes were wet from drinks being spilled on him, and he sure as hell didn't know what was going on around him. He was such a mess. "You were worried about me?" The blonde laughed in disbelief, grabbing a hold of the redhead, "Look at you."

"Eleven..." The redhead too held onto his sister, "Is you mad at me?" He spit out a grammatically incorrect question.

"Stay still! Quit moving around like a cockroach, Tala!" Why the heck was she always accountable for her brother's stupidity?

"Oh man, he's gonna throw up,"

The blonde looked at Ray, "Ew, he better not," Too late. This resulted in a super tipsy Kai to literally laugh his ass off.

"Nigga can't hold his alcohol!" The vice captain was holding onto his knees, 'dying' of laughter with Hilary looking around in embarrassment, telling him to 'shut the fuck up' because him and Tala were literally causing a scene.

Evian did not even _look_ at the pile of disgust, but was bombarded with something even nastier: a drunken vomit covered embrace.

There goes her hundred dollar cardigan.

Evian closed her eyes, looking as appalled as ever, "Honestly, I will like, die..." Nonetheless, it was evident that there was nothing stronger than a sister's love as she dragged the redhead into the hotel, despite being coated with utter nastiness and having people stare at them.

**x x x**

"– hundred dollars! Plus tax!"

"It wasn't even your money!"

"And it was Juicy Couture, Tala! Do you know what that means! It fit so well! And it was the last extra-small! It was my favourite! It was the most gorgeous colour in the world! And it went with everything I wore!"

Kai rolled his eyes at the soap opera of the scene that unfolded in front of him. While all this was a horrible Shakespeare-like tragedy for Evian, Tala just looked plain annoyed, irritated, pissed off, and sick.

Distraught over her 'ruined' cardigan, she continued, "I _garbaged_ my clothes! You're such a dick, Tala! Who the _hell _throws up on Juicy Couture? Like, are you stupid!"

Although Evian was pretty loud, Kai found it impossible to pay attention to her words. With a pair of super tiny jean shorts, her ass looked..._spankable_. And he couldn't help but stare. So round, so defined, apple-bottom-y, they were just waiting to be smacked. It was so tempting to just grab a cheek and give it a squeeze.

But he couldn't. Being a guy, there were a couple of things he was fully aware of: having a sweet tooth for a girl who already had a boyfriend was bad, but having a craving for a girl who had a _brother_? Worse! And what happened when that 'brother' just happened to be your best friend? Knowing the rules all too well, Kai forced himself to rip his eyes away from the blonde. He knew was that if Tala ever found out, the redhead would kick his ass so hard that Kai would end up ass-less.

And not just that, he had a girlfriend! He needed to learn to control himself and stop getting sidetracked.

He turned his attention back to the sibling quarrel.

"I don't think I've ever been this upset before! I'm gonna need like ten manicures to make me feel better!"

"I don't think you've ever been such a drama queen in your life, crying over a damn sweater while I'm sick as fuck," The events of last night had left the captain with a brutal headache and nausea. Much to Evian's horrification and repulsion, the redhead had thrown up at least three times last night, once outside, once in the hallway just inches away from their room, and finally, in the toilet before passing out. And even though it was the next day, he could _still_ feel a little drunk. Everything from last night was such a blur, most of it beyond recollection.

Tequila and vodka shots in the double digits, a number of beers that couldn't be counted on both hands put together, a good number of jagerbombs, and only God knew what else, was definitely, definitely, _definitely _not a good idea. And he damn well was paying the price for it.

But as long as he didn't wake up without his clothes next to some random chick carrying his baby...he was good. Thanks to Evian, that never happened. Yet.

His other half always had his back and she probably deserved extra credit for last night for single-handedly being able to drag him out of the washroom, change him, tuck him into bed, and then clean the mess _he_ left in the washroom.

"It's a cardigan!" She yelled, handing the redhead a glass of water, "I didn't poison it! But I hope there's E. Coli in it and you die!"

"Evian..." The redhead shook his head before drinking the glass of water. It was about 8:30 in the morning and Evian was actually up – only to whine and complain about her cardigan.

"I just wanna commit suicide!"

"Please..." Tala said, gesturing towards the balcony.

This upset Evian even more, "I hate you!" With that, the blonde stormed out of the room, not before adding a, "You're fat and ugly!"

"God, _finally_!" Tala looked relieved once he heard the door slam.

By nine, everyone made it downstairs for breakfast.

"Tala, you look ill," Mr. MaCaffery said right away.

"Uh...yeah..."

"Are you feeling okay? Do you have a fever?" The brown haired man placed a hand over his son's forehead, "Nope, no temperature."

"Gee, I wonder why he's sick!" This came from Evian from the other side of the table. The redhead gave her a glare, one that told her to keep her mouth shut. This supposed 'death glare' seemed to scare the crap out of everyone else except his sister.

"I'm not sick,"

The blonde placed her hands on the table and leaned over, "That's not what you said this morning!"

"Evian!"

"And when you puked all over my top!" She pointed at the redhead in rage.

"Fine! I'll get you a new one!" He kicked the blonde from under the table lightly, desperately trying to get her to shut up and stop trying to get him into trouble.

Mr. MaCaffery eyed the twins, "What in the world is going on? And did you really throw up, Tala? You must be really sick."

"I'm fine, dad," The redhead lied. Truth be told, he didn't even have an appetite and really didn't feel like training today. It was a miracle he even made it out of his bed.

"Anyways, like I mentioned before, Enrique's coming today," Mr. MaCaffery said.

It was like Evian had a split personality. At the mention of Enrique, her face lit up, "When?"

"He should be here..." Mr. MaCaffery looked at his watch, "Now." He motioned towards the glass doors that led into the hotel.

Carrying roughly five suitcases and looking like a complete idiot as he struggled was the baby blonde haired boy. The first person to have a reaction of course was Evian as she ran up towards him, embracing the life out of him, "Enrique!"

"Hey Evian!"

The two started yapping their butts off immediately.

Back at the table, although genuinely happy to see Enrique, they didn't have space for more than one blonde in their lives – Evian was already a handful. Everyone could only imagine the happenings that were about to occur.

* * *

**So was this update fast enough for you guys? :P **

**Like I said, I wanna try to update every week and I also wanted to update before I gave my laptop back to the university. Stay in school kids, stay in school – getting kicked out isn't a good feeling. Just make sure you're up to date with everything from the VERY beginning; that was my mistake. I fucked up my first year (within my 8-month first year I only went to 3 classes in total, didn't hand in any of the assignments, missed a few midterms, did really well on my exams but that wasn't enough), got suspended, got back in, and even though I did really well this time it wasn't enough to compensate for my first year's mistake so now I'm paying the price for it...**

**Anyways...my brother and I had a HUGE fight yesterday, holy shit. I don't remember what it was over but I threw the phone at him while he was eating and he threw his bowl of food at me. I had rice and chicken and vegetables all over myself – hair and clothes – and it pissed me off SO bad (because I had just come out of the shower) so I threw my food at him. There was food ALL over the living room...yeah, it wasn't pretty.**

**Do you guys have brothers or sisters? Do you still fight with them? Lol because I'm 21 and he's 16. Let me know in your reviews!**

**THANKS TO...**

**zeratheliger **(Yes I did Evian's name like that on purpose! Lol)

**Waffles**

**just a girl **(ALL brothers are jerks! Mine included!!! So sad lol)

**NightShroud **(YES there will be a sequel! That's why I'm trying to get a move on with this story!)

**native-kitten**

**Lazy Chick**

**Fuurai**

**ChaoticPhoenix27**

**BornAtTheBreakOfDawn **(LOL Wise about guys my ass! But the situation you are in, I've been in that before! So let me try to help you as much as I can! You see, guys have an ego and they don't wanna appear too soft – for being of appearing gay or pussy-like lol – so by him being mean to you it means he's trying to keep his ego but sometimes he loses it – because he likes you! – and goes all soft on you. ORRRR...it can also mean he's testing you to see how you react to different situations, this is rare but it still happens. They wanna see if you have a temper, if you can take a joke, if you're too serious and all that stuff. Weird I know, but hey, guys are weird! Good luck with him! And about the bitch that ruined things...ugh, I hate when crap like that happens. JUST DRESS HOTTER!!! LOL!)

**Lithaerie** (That date was the most humiliating thing in my entire existence!!! AND HE IGNORED ME AFTER! Can you believe it! Asshole!)


	31. Chapter 31

_Rewind the lines and find the hidden meanings._

**DLS **_31_

It was roughly three in the afternoon. After training, which actually didn't last long because – dun, dun, dun – the captain himself didn't want to continue for more than an hour, the team spent a few minutes talking to Enrique but as mentioned before, Evian already had dibs on the other blonde and the two went shopping regardless of the fact that she hadn't gotten _any_ sleep last night because of Tala and then her secret training session.

Evian and Enrique walked back to the hotel, carrying a zillion shopping bags each.

"- it was so not sexy, Enrique, I can_not _believe Dakota would do that to him," Evian rolled her eyes as she recapped the occurrences of last night, sipping on an iced cappuccino in an endeavour to keep herself awake because only God knew just how tired she was.

Enrique laughed, "Sounds like quite the night! It's a shame I missed out!"

"Ew, Enrique! It was so heinous! Kai was acting like a total moron, Tala the dumb ass was being a dumb ass; they're such losers, I swear," Although fatigued, she really didn't look the part. With a pair of dark skinnies paired with some sexy black heels, a shimmery loose white tank top, a chic teal scarf looped around her neck, and of course, designer sunnies, her swag was definitely on.

Once near the hotel, she never expected to be swarmed with a couple of photographers. "Evian, are you cheating on Kai?"

"Is your brother going out with Dakota?"

"Who's the new guy?"

"What are you drinking?"

"Is it true Tala went out partying last night with a bunch of girls?"

"Where did you go shopping?"

"Is it true you and Hilary don't get along?"

"You look nice – are you a size two?"

"Did you get a boob job?"

Evian didn't even get the time to process all the questions; there were so many, all coming from random directions. Half the questions were absolutely absurd. And boob job? Puh-leeze, bitch! These Double D babies were as real as it got – be jealous.

"Holy shit," Enrique cursed, also popping his sunglasses over his eyes, looking down, trying to avoid the media.

"Um, I don't know..." Evian managed to say, not knowing which question she had even answered, "This is Enrique," She was able to add to the herd of people around her, "My jeans are a double zero," With that, a million other enquires came all at the same time, most of them about her weight, some about her daily diet, and a few more about Kai. Unable to hear them all, the blonde only provided the paparazzi with a quick pose before running off into the hotel.

"Wow," Enrique took off his sunglasses, "That was ridiculous, Evian."

"I know," The two made their way upstairs to their residing floor. After dumping all her bags into the room she was sharing with Hilary and Mariah, also leaving Enrique in there to converse with the two girls, she left to check up on the 'dumb ass'. She knocked on the guys' door, which was opened by Ray.

"Hey Evian," He greeted, letting the blonde inside.

"Hey," She kicked off her heels and shoved them to the side before taking in the full view of the room. Kai was sitting on the floor leaning against his unmade bed, remote in hand, flipping the channels in a bored fashion. Evian realized Dakota was here too, also checking up on the redhead she was fancying.

"Hey hun," Dakota grinned at Evian.

"Hi," Came Evian's reply. As she walked towards her brother, Evian nearly tripped over a pair of jeans on the floor with one leg inside out. Picking it up, she looked at Kai, "Oh my gosh, I almost just died,"

Auburn eyes shifted from the television screen to the blonde, "They're not mine,"

Evian raised an eyebrow and held up the pair, the back pockets facing the guilty bluenette, "It's Rock and Republic, Kai," She proved her point before folding the pair and placing it on the edge of his bed.

"And how much of dad's dolla dolla bills did you spend today, Blondie?" Came the redhead's question.

"That's none of your business."

"Couldn't agree more!" The tousle-haired girl cheered.

The redhead furrowed his eyebrows at Dakota, "Aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

"Aw," Dakota ruffled his red hair, "You're so much hotter when you're jealous." She got up from the mattress, "Anyways, I gotta get going."

Meanwhile, Evian knew she needed to have a chat with Dakota. Normally she wouldn't call someone out on their actions, but this 'action' involved Tala, so she felt she had to. If she didn't look out for him, who would? As Dakota collected her things and prepared to leave, Evian made her move, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure!"

"Outside," Evian added pointing towards the door, earning a threatening look from Tala, which she obviously ignored. She was the older twin, he just had to get used to that whether he liked it or not.

"Okay," Dakota said, "Bye guys!" She added before following the redhead's sister outside the hotel room and into the corridors, "What's up?"

"Well it's about last night," Evian started. She watched Dakota nod, so she continued, "Tala got _really_ sick. Like, look at him, he's still sick."

"I know, I feel so bad! Poor guy,"

"Um, Ray was sort of telling me how you gave him too many drinks," Evian wasn't blaming her; she was only letting her know. She had to be straight up about things when it came to Tala. The guy got really ill for Pete's sake, it was a pretty fucking big deal to her, regardless of what everyone else thought.

"Yeah, I know, I didn't understand what it was going to come to. I probably shouldn't have. I just lost count of how many I got him,"

"K, well, you know, this is just a heads up for next time," Evian smiled. "I don't mind taking care of him as long as he's not throwing up all over the place," She laughed, indicating she had absolutely no hard feelings towards Dakota. She really didn't. Dakota was finally a girl Evian was really getting along with that was actually handpicked by Tala.

"Evian, you're _too_ cute! God, I love you," With that, Dakota wrapped her arms around the other blonde, "You and Tala are the cutest brother and sister I've ever seen! It's adorable how you're so protective over him."

Evian returned the hug, "I love you, too," She really did – in a non lesbian way.

"Take care of Tala for me, k?" Dakota pulled away, "I'll see you soon, Ev! Bye!"

"Bye," Evian watched Dakota take the elevator and leave. Turning around, she re-entered the room and made her way over to her brother's bed and rummaged through her purse before getting out a bottle of water, "Drink," She ordered the redhead, "You need lots of water right now."

"Okay, mom," Tala teased.

"Shut up or I'll hit you," Evian said, yawning. "How are you feeling now?"

"Could be a _lot _better," He said, holding the bottle of water that was now half done. He moved over slightly as Evian took a seat next to him, sliding her legs under the covers and getting comfortable. The redhead watched as she took out her cell phone, checked a couple of things, before shoving it back into her purse.

"Why are you just sitting here like a moron? Finish the water!" She grabbed his hand and felt his palm, "Oh my god, you're already dehydrating!" She gasped, "Finish, finish! Hurry! I'm gonna get you more!"

"Shit," Kai groaned, "She's worse than _my_ mom,"

"Try living with her," Tala sighed.

"How rude! I bake you cookies and make you pasta at home!" The blonde crossed her arms.

"Don't worry, Blondie," The redhead said, "I still love you."

"Why couldn't Chris Brown be my brother? He's so cute,"

"You want a woman beater?"

"Doesn't make him any less cute!" The blonde argued.

The redhead scrunched up his face, "And why the hell would you want a 'cute' brother?" He shuddered, "You scare the crap out of me sometimes. I wonder if you secretly like me too."

"Tala! You're such a moron! I swear!" She gave him a shove crankily, "And don't even compare yourself to Chris Brown! You wish your ugly ass had Rihanna!"

"Who needs Rihanna when you have Beyonce? Now that woman is one fine chunk of meat that I'd like to -"

Evian turned her head towards the imbecile and she really didn't need to say anything to get him to shut up. Within a couple of minutes, Kai had stopped flipping channels, stopping at one that was airing _Back to the Future_. They all watched the movie attentively.

Well two of them were at least.

Upon feeling a weight on his shoulder, the redhead glanced down only to see the blonde out like a light. Smiling lightly, he moved over a little more and let her lie down with her head on the pillow. Blonde and a little stupid sometimes, she was still _the_ most caring person in his life, ranking higher than his parents. She never said it out loud, but her actions made it pretty obvious. And even though he always wondered how he got stuck with a sister like Evian, he'd never wish for any other sister.

While everyone else believed in God or some kind of supernatural being that protected them from harm, he always had a feeling Evian was more of a guardian angel than a sister, always watching out for him, always being there when he needed her, always keeping him out of the path of destruction. There was never a time she wasn't. He couldn't make sense out of it – such a small girl, doing poorly in school, sensitive to criticism, kind of dumb, often clueless about the general things, oblivious to most things, always making stupid mistakes, a complete cry baby...but _always_ strong for him.

How was it possible?

There was a reason the word 'miracle' existed. There was no other way Tala could explain such a thing.

**x x x**

Evian peered out the large window pane watching trees, power lines, and tall grass all whipping by very fast. The scenery resembled the countryside with a couple of olden style houses and pickup trucks visible as the train sped by. The blonde narrowed her eyes as she looked towards the sky, the rays of the sun blinding her slightly.

"Ev, I'm so bored," Looking away from the window, Evian faced her other half. He even _looked_ bored, sprawled in his seat with his elbow on the hand rest and his chin in his palm, "Shit I think I'm gonna commit suicide," Was his next comment.

"I thought you were playing ca – oh," The blonde paused as she looked across from her seat towards the dual haired boy who was dozed off, five playing cards loosely gripped in his hands and over his chest.

"Yeah man," Tala sighed, "Everyone's sleeping; fucking pussies. Gimme your iPod,"

"No!" The blonde clutched onto the MP3 player, "It's almost out of battery and I wanna listen to it later!"

"Evian! Quit being stingy!" The redhead made a grab for it.

"Stop!" She held it out of his reach but he kept fighting for it. In a matter of seconds, Evian felt the pink device snatched out of her small hands, but not by her brother.

"_Neither_ of you are getting it," Mr. MaCaffery loomed over the twins, "How many times do I have to tell you two to shut up? We're on a public train! And I already have a headache!"

"Well it's _my_ iPod!" Evian argued.

"Yeah but it's not my fault you got her an iPod and you didn't get me one," The redhead reasoned.

The brown haired man raised a brow at his son, "I take it you don't want a car then?" The seemed to shut the younger sibling up fairly quickly, "Now please just keep quiet and get along and be considerate. We get off at the stop after this one,"

When the train did come to a stop, new people got on and a few people departed. Some of The Skittles members had woken up during the stopover at the station, "Next stop is ours'?" Mariah asked.

"Yeah," Ray nodded, "Can't wait to get off this hell hole,"

The train continued once again, the redhead being one of the ones to fall asleep this time from serious tediousness. Evian continued gazing out the window wondering how much longer she'd have to be seated in here; her patience was starting to wear out. She snapped out of it when she felt her Blackberry vibrate on the small table in front of her. Picking it up, she checked the text message:

_From: Kai – 647 557 4737_

_im horny :(_

Evian looked up at her vice captain, her expression displaying a half smile and a half nose wrinkle all at once. Nonetheless, he gave her a devilish smirk, nodding his head to the side in a 'let's get outta here' sort of way. The blonde widened her eyes and shook her head right away, her eyes motioning towards Tala at first and then at Hilary who was sound asleep as well, her head resting on Kai's shoulder.

She watched as the blue haired boy shifted away from the brunette, repositioning her in the process before glancing over at the blonde. Giving in, Evian rolled her eyes and _very_ carefully and _very_ quietly got out of her seat and made her way down the aisle without looking back; she knew he was following her anyway.

Luckily the compartment they were in was the largest one since it was the last one and whether it was allowed or not, she didn't know, but once she was at the end of the partition she pulled open the latch on the gate and stood on the small outdoor platform.

She could feel the train's vibration on the sole of her flip flops and the breeze beat through her hair. Fortunately she decided against wearing a dress or skirt today! Finger combing all her strands, she tied it back with the elastic that was around her wrist and as she did this she noticed her vice captain literally staring her down. But not in a checking out way.

She was a little confused whether he liked what he saw or didn't like what he saw – was she dressed ugly? Did he want her to put her hair back down? "What?" She asked, slightly insulted. It was when he didn't say anything she realized he wasn't even looking at her, he was looking _beyond_ her, his eyes fixated on something else. Whirling around, she was able to see what he was seeing: a number of people several yards away, most of them yelling at the top of their lungs, waving their arms in the air like maniacs, some of them shaking their heads, a few pointing to the side jumping up and down.

Evian could barely hear what they were saying but cuing onto their body language and gestures, she leaned over the steel railing and looked parallel to the train but off into the distance. And she sort of wished she hadn't seen anything for it was the most horrifying view she had seen in her entire existence, worse than any scary movie or a million scary movies put together.

Her train was going in one direction and she could see another fairly large train coming from the other direction on the _same_ tracks. It wasn't a passenger train; it was a train carrying fuel and other inflammable material in black cylindrical compartments.

Honestly it was the most disturbing sight, both trains on a head-on collision course, both trains honking their horns simultaneously. But it wasn't helping and even though it looked like the train she was on as well as the other one were desperately hitting the brakes it wasn't doing any good...

...they were just getting closer, and closer, and closer leaving almost zero room for any kind of survival.

She looked back at the crowd of people but there were less now – they were all running for their lives, most of them getting in their vehicles and driving off because they knew very well the accident was imminent and it wasn't going to be just a bunch of compartments toppling over one another, it was going to be a huge _combusting_ and _explosive _collision.

Evian turned her attention back on the trains...and it was in that moment she knew she was going to die...along with her father, her brother, Kai, her team, and _everyone_ that was on board this train...

Not knowing what else to do and not wanting to witness her own death she closed her eyes tightly and turned her head the other way, placing her hands over her head almost as if it were going to shield her from the impact. She remained in that position awaiting the sickening crash.

But it never came. Lifting her head, she found herself surrounded and entangled in a white bed sheet. With eyes wide open, she kicked through almost as if she was drowning in a mattress.

From the other side of the room, Tala made a face as he watched his sister. _What an idiot_, he thought to himself as he turned his attention back to his cell phone where he and Dakota had been exchanging text messages for the past couple of minutes. As he waited for a reply to his most recent text, he glanced over at Evian who had finally pulled herself into a sitting position, her eyeliner a bit smudged, a couple of strands of hair sticking out in random directions, and her clothes a little wrinkled since she'd slept in them.

What sort of creeped him out was the way she was just staring blankly into nothing at all. She wasn't even blinking. Was she even breathing?

"Ev...ian?" And that's when the strangest thing happened. She began crying. The redhead made his way over to the blonde, "Hey, what's wrong?"

She blinked a couple of times, crying out a river.

"What's wrong? Ev?"

It was just very hysterical crying, millions of tears coming out at once, soaking her tank top and the jeans she'd slept in and the bed sheets. For once in his life, he didn't know what to do with her. Was he supposed to say something? Was he supposed to ask her questions? Was he supposed to leave her alone? No, he couldn't leave her alone, she probably wouldn't like that. She wasn't the type of person that liked to be left alone. And he sure as hell didn't _want_ to leave her alone.

"Can...you stop?" Her crying made him feel like crying and he didn't even know _why_ she was so upset. He could never understand if this was a 'twin thing' or because he was secretly emotional. Whatever it was, it was just so hard to watch her like this. When he did feel his eyes water up, he quickly blinked them back; there was no way he could cry, not in front of her! Not in front of anyone! He was a guy! A _man_. Besides, he was supposed to be 'strong' for her and him crying would only confuse her more.

He gave her the one thing he always gave her when she was upset: a comforting hug. As expected, she took it right away. He didn't say anything – sometimes it was best to just let her cry things out, sort out how she felt. A few more tears and minutes later, she started to calm down but still clung onto the redhead tightly.

"Are you okay?" He finally asked, "Do you want to talk about it? Was it a bad dream?"

As she wiped her face, she spoke, "I wanna go home,"

"Okay, okay,"

"No, I _really_ wanna go home. I wanna be back in Toronto with mom and watch _Oprah_ with her and do homework in my room,"

"You mean _pretend_ to do homework in your room," He corrected, remembering every time he or their parents stumbled into Evian's room when she claimed to do homework, she was either painting her nails, on the phone, on Facebook or MSN, or checking herself out in the mirror. "How about this? I call mom, you talk to her,"

"Okay," She bobbed her head. She hadn't talked to her mother in so long! She missed being home and having her mom bake things for her and bring it up to her room. She missed having her mom embrace her and tell her 'I love you' after a bad day at school. She missed telling her mom about girly problems. In the phone call she mentioned nothing of the dream; it was just a normal conversation full of 'I miss you's and 'I love you's.

"Do you feel okay now?" The redhead asked.

"Yeah," Evian finally let out a smile. She felt a lot better after the fifteen minute phone call. It was as if she never even had a nightmare! There really was nothing more powerful than a mother's touch, be it physical or mental.

"Good!" The redhead hit her over the shoulder but frowned when she grabbed herself in pain, "Oh come on! Be a man!"

"I'm a girl, stupid!"

"Are you serious?" He moved away quickly before she managed to kick him, "Now go get ready for dinner, I'm gonna wait for you," As the blonde lazily made her way into the washroom, the redhead killed time with some TV. "And why the hell are you sleeping so much anyway?" Tala asked when she finally exited the washroom.

"Oh that's because I have this truly heinous brother who always wants me to beyblade and never gives me a break," Evian said as she rimmed her eyes with a thin line in black liner, "It makes little old me so tired."

"You're such a blonde," He said as he continued flipping the channels.

"So..."

Tala raised a brow, "Yeah?"

"I have to tell you something," She whispered.

"K, tell me,"

"You know Kai?" She started off dramatically, "He has sex with like _every_ girl! And," She continued, "Oh. My. Gosh. He did it with his cousin!" She exclaimed, her hands outward, eyeliner in hand, "Isn't that like seriously gross?"

The redhead furrowed his eyebrows, "Who told you this?"

"Pierre,"

"Okay, Ev? None of that stuff is true,"

Evian rolled her eyes, "You're such a crack whore, Tala, honestly." She turned back to the mirror, lining her other eye, "God, I'm totally getting a MAC eyeliner next time! This one's too smudgy!"

Tala fought off the urge to slit his wrists for the next couple of minutes as he waited for his other half; hearing her complain about her eyeliner, mascara , her clothes, and other things was enough to make any human go crazy.

The two finally made it downstairs – fifteen minutes delayed – and grabbed a seat at the table. "You know what I want," The blonde started, staring off into nothing with her index finger under her chin, "Chicken Alfredo...with broccoli!"

"Ew, broccoli," The redhead made a face.

"It's good for you!" Argued the blonde.

"And I'm going to have to take Evian's side on this one," Mr. MaCaffery said, "In fact I think I'm going to have the same thing. And so will you, Tala."

"What! Why! That's nasty!"

"Ha," Evian gave a cheeky grin.

The redhead slumped in his seat, disgusted, when his plate of dinner arrived, "Ew..."

"Don't be such a girl, Tala," Mr. MaCaffery said, "Even Evian isn't picky this time."

But this did nothing to help the redhead as he still had his face scrunched up, poking some of the 'scary' broccoli crowns every now and then as if it were going to kill him. Then again, with broccoli...you really never could be too careful, right? Nonetheless, dinner continued and everyone continued talking to each other. Ray to Enrique, Mariah to Mr. MaCaffery, and Hilary with Kai.

"So are we doing anything tonight? I was thinking..."

Honestly, all Kai heard from Hilary was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah; his attention was elsewhere. It wasn't done intentionally but Evian was looking mighty pretty tonight and it was hard not to be distracted by her. But that wasn't the only reason. He watched in an amused fashion as the blonde pulled her chair to sit beside her younger twin. She then snatched the fork out of his hands and attempted to force feed him his dinner, which he'd hardly touched having finished less than half and pushing all the vegetables to the side of his plate.

"Evian! People are watching! Stop!"

"So what?"

"This is embarrassing! I can eat myself!"

"Well you weren't. Anyways, here comes the airplane," She grinned with a spoonful of fettuccine, circling it in the air, "Open your mouth!"

Despite his endless protests, Evian had won this round as a red faced Tala was spoon fed dinner by his own sister. Kai continued to observe; Evian never failed to keep him entertained with her antics. Of all things however, this had to be the most interesting episode of all. It was highly comical watching someone like Tala – captain of a beyblading team, a chick magnet, a member of the rugby team – in the current position he was in. A number of seriously hot girls passed by the table laughing, deteriorating any chance Tala may have had with any of them.

Well someone definitely wasn't gonna get laid tonight...

It must've been a miracle that Dakota was still interested!

"Evian! I don't like broccoli. This shit's nasty,"

"Do you have any idea how nutrient-rich broccoli is? Drink some water," She passed the redhead a glass, "But not too much or it'll fill you up,"

"Oh I hope it does!" Said the captain as he quickly tried to finish the entire glass hoping to fill himself up. Another fight erupted from the twins, this time over the glass of water, some of its contents spilling here and there.

Still monitoring the commotion, Kai couldn't help but smile to himself. Sure she was the stereotypical blonde Barbie but somehow he knew she'd make an exceptional wife and mother one day; she already had the qualities. She seemed to be so full of love, having a surplus of such a precious thing but no one to give all of it to except her brother and her parents. What it was about Evian, he didn't know except that she reminded him a lot of his own mother, a woman who'd gotten pregnant at seventeen and actually decided to keep the baby and raise him through thick and thin, always optimistic about every outcome and every obstacle, even when her then-husband, Jullien, left her three years later.

At the thought of his biological father, Kai's smile disappeared and he forgot all about Evian and Tala. Instead, he wondered how his life would have been if his father never left. Would he actually have a blood-related brother or sister? Would Mariah still be in his life? What about his step-father? The amount of fights he had with his step-father, would he have the same with his real one? Would all the people and things he knew now be in his life?

This was something he could never find the answer to. And it bothered him endlessly.

He'd never experienced a father's love before. Even though his mother tried to be a mother _and_ a father in his life, trying to learn about cars just so she could talk to him about it, joke around about girls with him, play sports with him, sit through a Raptors, Celtics or Cavs game, and provide him with infinite love...it just wasn't the same.

How to boost a car when the battery died, how to change the oil in a car, how to use all the tools in a toolbox, how to fix some household things when they stopped working, learning how to pee and _not _miss the toilet, learning about foreplay, figuring out how to open a beer bottle in almost twenty different ways, learning to dribble a basketball between his legs and shoot a three-pointer and get it in all the time; all this he learned on his own.

A cold and wet sensation near his crotch area broke through his thoughts. He looked down, horrified – did he pee!? He looked up to see Evian, turning literally ten different shades of crimson, holding an empty glass that was once filled with water.

"Nice going, Blondie," Tala said, "Kai you look like you pissed yourself!" The redhead added before bursting into a fit of laugher. The twins were then scolded by Mr. MaCaffery for their 'immature' and 'childish' behaviour and being disrespectful to Kai – only to be scolded more when Tala couldn't suppress his laughter creating a domino effect for Evian as she put a hand over her mouth and looked down, trying to get her hair to cover her face.

Mr. MaCaffery exhaled out loudly, "Morons..." He muttered before looking over at Kai, "I am so sorry on their behalf." He eyed his children for a second, hoping _at least_ his son would get the hint. Unfortunately that was not the case as Tala and Evian continued laughing, this time dragging the rest of the team with them in their little hilarity.

"It's okay," The tall vice captain stood up, "I'm gonna go change," He said, Hilary following him closely.

"You know," Hilary started angrily once on the elevator, "She did that on purpose." Kai rolled his eyes. Hilary could be quite the annoyance sometimes, "She just wanted to touch you down there!" The brunette exclaimed, this time on the twelfth floor.

Knowing where he wanted things to go, he smirked as he unlocked the door, "Yeah? And why does she wanna touch me down there? What's so good about 'down there'?"

Catching on, Hilary grinned, "Ooohh nothing...just this really big thing..." She pushed him inside, locking the door behind her.

The bluenette raised his arms in an unknowing gesture, "No idea what you're talking about. You should show me what this 'big thing' of mine you're talking about is,"

"Yeah," She started, gripping the hem of her top, "But I wanna show you something else first," She said, pulling it over her head and tossing it towards the ground.

Meanwhile, the team waited in the training room, Mariah and Evian standing in one corner talking about some cute guy from their high school, the boys in another corner growing impatient. "What's taking them so long?" Ray asked, referring to his vice captain and his girlfriend.

"Oh I think I know what might be taking them a while..." Enrique said, grinning ear-to-ear, earning an all knowing beam from Tala as well.

"Oh hell no!" Ray said, "They better not be on my bed!"

"Hey you're right!" Tala looked sickened, "What if they're on mine?"

"What if they're in the shower!" Added Enrique.

"I'm showering in the girls' bathroom man," Ray stated.

"What about the counter!" The redhead made a face.

"What if they did it on the floor?!" The raven haired boy commented.

"Yo we could be stepping on jizz and not even know it!" Tala remarked, his mouth slightly open in revulsion.

"Dude that's gross!" Enrique wrinkled his nose.

"Horny bastards..." Ray shook his head. Upon catching a glimpse of the dual-haired teen, Ray tried to quiet them down, "Shh! Shh! They're here!"

When Kai walked into the room, there was no difference except a new pair of jeans. When Hilary walked in, there was nothing different about her either...except her hair was now tied into a messy bun, a few knots visible, and a red spot on the side of her neck that hadn't been there before giving away the details of what had happened.

Wide eyed, Ray, Tala, and Enrique glanced at each other and tried to hold back laughter, each guy shoving each other.

What an epic fail that was!

"What the hell is so funny?" The vice captain snapped.

"N-nothing..." Enrique managed to say, holding his breath in an attempt to stop laughing. Nonetheless, training commenced and to make up for the day before, Mr. MaCaffery made sure training was extra rigorous, wearing everyone out within the first hour. Before a break, he reassured the team it was necessary. After the work out was over, all four guys stepped outside of the hotel for a bit with Enrique smoking on a cigarette. Blowing out the first set of smoke, the baby blonde turned his attention to the vice captain, "So, someone got lucky huh?"

"Uh..."

Ray chuckled, "Yeah Kai, what happened upstairs?

Crossing his arms and closing his eyes, Kai smirked, "I don't kiss and tell."

"No need to kiss and tell Kai!" Tala laughed, "It was so damn obvious!"

"I'm jealous," Enrique started, "Your ass gets lucky almost every night. I get lucky once in a couple of months."

"At least the both of your asses _get_ lucky. I haven't had a girlfriend in more than a year," Tala rolled his eyes.

"You'll be tapping Dakota in no time, don't worry," Ray grinned before noticing something behind the vice captain and the redhead, "Isn't that Evian and Tyson?"

Looking over their shoulders, sure enough there was Evian and Tyson, black Civic parked close by. The blonde was chatting up the blue haired boy, showing him something on her cell phone. It seemed as if she had then asked him something, her pouty face telling the story for itself and within seconds, Tyson tossed her what appeared to be his car keys. Smiling, the blonde took a couple of steps back with one hand in the air in attempt to catch it and once she did, she ran towards the driver's seat.

"What the hell is she doing? She doesn't have her fucking licence!"

"Can she drive?" Enrique asked.

"No!" Tala answered.

Wrong.

The car drove off right past them...but stopped within a couple of seconds and reversed back. The window rolled down, revealing the ever-so perky blonde and Tyson beside her in the passenger seat.

"Evian, what the hell do you think you're doing..." Said a paler than usual Tala.

But she didn't seem to notice his apprehension, "Get in ladies!"

"Are you shitting me? Get _out_!" Tala said, "Dad's gonna kill us! And you know he's gonna kill me first since I'm a guy!"

"Get in, loser! We're gonna go mack on some truly gorgeous L.A. boys,"

While Tala continued yelling, Kai gave Evian a hard stare; he didn't fail to notice an audacious twinkle in those emerald eyes, one he'd never seen before. Suddenly she didn't look like Malibu Barbie Anymore. She looked more like a seriously mischievous blonde bombshell ready to manhandle the car.

All the cards were in her hands. And Kai knew she was smart enough to use them to her advantage. And she did. Steering wheel in hand, she put the car in neutral and stepped on the gas, giving the boys a tease knowing no male species could ever ignore that sweet sound. With _Satisfaction _playing in the background, a 'you-know-you-want-to' grin, of course it worked like a charm, giving all four something close to an erection.

"Yo I'm in, guy!" Enrique said, being the first one to crack, taking one last drag before flicking his cigarette butt away and jumping into the empty seat in the back, followed by Ray who was next to give into his young temptation.

"Come on!" Ray waved inward with his hands at the redhead and the bluenette who looked more concerned than thrilled. "There's room!"

"Yeah! Get the hell in!" Tyson said, "I wanna burn!" He waved his rolled weed.

Finally shrugging his shoulders, the vice captain got into the car.

"Kai! Not you too! You guys are all crazy! Evian can't drive!" Tala yelled.

"Yes I can!" Evian protested.

"When the hell did you learn how to drive?"

"You taught me," She rolled her eyes, "Duh?"

"I taught you for like..." Tala paused, trying to think of how many 'lessons' – if you could even call it that – he'd given her, "A couple of days! In a damn grocery store parking lot! For ten minutes!"

"Tala! Get your hairy testicles in the car!" Enrique yelled. Giving in Tala squeezed into the back as well.

"Finally!" Evian yelled, "Okay ladies and guys, this is your captain speaking! Please keep your hands and feet in the ride at all times, thank you! Enjoy the flight bitches,"

"Uh, we're not on a roller coaster," Kai remarked, "Or a plane..."

"Same shit," Tyson laughed, "For me at least if you know what I mean. Anyways, pedal to the metal Evian!"

"Whoa! Your sister can drive stick?" Enrique's mouth hung open, "That's...hot as hell!"

Kai eyed the blonde through the rear view mirror hoping she'd catch his glimpse. But she didn't; she was way too excited. He didn't care what Tala thought about her and what everyone else thought about her. _You can't fool me Evian, I'm not stupid._

"Honestly, I'm so scared right now I'm gonna piss my pants," Said a shaking Tala. "Even I can't drive manual transmission! Where the hell did you learn?"

"That's 'cause yous' a pussy ass nigga, Tala!" Tyson laughed, lighting up his spliff, "You got some kick ass girlfriend!"

"Ew you did not just say that; he's my brother..."

"Then who's the other blonde babe his tiny man junk is chasing?"

"My 'tiny man junk' isn't chasing anyone! And I don't have a 'tiny man junk'! It's way bigger than what yours' will ever be! What's your fucking shoe size?" Tala yelled trying to protect his male ego, only to be ignored.

"Dakota? _Your_ teammate?" Evian answered the blue haired boy's question.

"Oh, right." Tyson nodded, taking his first drag.

"Why the fuck would you let her fucking drive!" Tala yelled.

"I swear, in Tala's afterlife he's gonna be reincarnated as a tampon," Evian said before changing lanes, "To annoy the shit out of every girl,"

"Evian, you forgot to put your signals! Seriously, turn back, I'm shit scared, I'm about to take a dump in my pants!"

"Chill!" This came from Ray, "She can drive!"

Enrique grinned, "Ev, you still single?"

"Shut up Enrique before I kick your ass!" Tala warned.

At that, Kai scoffed, "He ain't playing..."

"Oh my god," Evian started, "You guys are _so_ annoying," She finally stopped at a red light and while everyone continued their non-stop chattering, she looked over at Tyson, "Highway?" She whispered. Grinning, Tyson nodded, giving her the okay.

"Did you fix your rear view mirror!"

Unable to take anymore of her brother's menstrual freak outs, the blonde turned the volume dial the entire way literally making the car shake. Her face lit up slightly at the familiar tune, Benny Benassi's _Castaway_, the song sounding that much better with the amazing bass in the car.

"Ye ye!" Enrique chimed in excitedly, evidently this being his type of music as well as Evian's: fast, upbeat, tons of bass, ass shakeable and just plain fun. While she nodded her head and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, he chose to literally move around in his seat as if he were dancing, "So Ev, you looking for a boyfriend?"

"Enrique..." The redhead growled, "Shut it..." Sometimes having a sister could be very stressing! And having a sister almost every guy was after was double the stress. The hassle most definitely tripled when he had to beat every single guy off her back because clearly she didn't know how to.

"Oh come on," The Italian whined, "We have so much in common: Evian starts with an E, Enrique starts with an E, both our names are three syllables, we both like to have a good time, we both like chicken, we both like movies, we're both the best looking out of all y'all butt uglies and we're both blondes!"

Tala only rolled his eyes at his blonde haired friend but soon forgot about it all when he felt the car accelerate way more than it needed to. That's also when he realized they were on the ramp to the highway, the blonde looking behind a few times as she tried to merge into the freeway.

The redhead was horrified! "Evian! What the hell! Holy fuck!" He kept his eyes on the roads, looking back and forth, "There's a fucking truck coming!" He was well aware that the highest risk manoeuvre for a driver was trying to fuse into a freeway. There were cars whizzing by, you had to keep your eyes on the cars in front of you, the ones behind you, and the ones even two lanes down; an accident here and you'd be _dead_.

"I have eyes, you girl," Evian remarked and Tala anxiously watched and prepared for the worst, gripping onto his seatbelt for dear life but when the blonde sped up, checked her blind spots a few more times and finally moved into a lane successfully, he let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, he was a little surprised she'd been able to do it. It made him suspicious; her driving was a little careless – forgetting to flick on her signals and changing multiple lanes all at once – but she hardly seemed like a beginner.

"Alright," Tyson started, "We're gonna stay on the 101,"

"Can you_ please_ get off at the next exit, Evian? I'm really scared, okay?" The redhead confessed, "Let Kai drive,"

Kai shot the redhead a look, "I missed the part where I volunteered,"

"But -"

"Why don't you," The dual haired teen cut off the redhead, "just trust her?" Well that was easier said than done. Sighing, Tala slouched back into his seat. Of course he _trusted_ Evian, after all, she was family and he had to trust family, right? But this was a life and death situation! Okay, so that was mild exaggeration but it was still more or less along those lines. One wrong move, one crash...

And that's when it made him wonder: did Kai trust Evian? From the looks of it, Tala couldn't tell. The vice captain was on the edge of his seat – literally – and had one hand pressed up against the side of the driver's seat and kept his attention on the freeway. In fact, Kai appeared to be a little hesitant as well, and with good reason; after all, their driver was a laptop breaking, cell phone dropping, high school failing, and technology illiterate blonde. It couldn't get any worse than that. Why had he indirectly insisted on letting her drive then?

"You going to that carnival tomorrow?" Tyson asked.

"What carnival?"

"It's a carnival that happens every year," He explained, "Some charity thing,"

"Really!" Evian exclaimed, a beam creeping to her lips right away, "Oh my gosh Tala! We're going to a carnival tomorrow!"

"Are you crazy? I'm not going to no gay carnival,"

"Come on! It'll be fun! They have caramel apples and we can get animal shaped balloons and everything,"

"No man," The redhead refused, "Besides, our battle's tomorrow,"

"Yeah, in the evening," Evian reasoned, "Can we please go?"

"No,"

As a last resort, the blonde tried blackmail, "You owe me for my Juicy Couture cardigan,"

"I'd rather get you a hundred dollar sweater thing than go to some retarded ass carnival,"

Giving in, Evian rolled her eyes, "_You're_ retarded."

**x x x**

Flipping through the United States Secret Services contracts, Brandon MaCaffery's eyes widened, "How could I have missed this..." He re-read the fine print again and again, one of the specific conditions that he hadn't caught before until now. He reached for the small piece of paper on the bedside table, a cheque worth $500, 000. Running his fingers through his dark hair he closed his eyes in anxiety.

**x x x**

Evian looked over her shoulder at the wall clock and sighed. While everyone was let go after their two hours of morning training, she was stuck in here for another thirty minutes with her dad.

"Come on, Ev," Mr. MaCaffery nagged, "Today's the battle, you can't mess up,"

"K," She nodded although she knew if she 'messed up' it wouldn't be such a big deal anyway. Having Tala as a partner had its advantages. It was like doing a project for school in pairs: the smarter one always did all the work and the dumb one who didn't do a single thing still ended up with a good grade. Of course no one wanted to be considered 'dumb' but Evian knew in the case of beyblading, there was not much else she could do except depend solely on her brother.

"Keep going, thirty more minutes and then you can leave too but if you do _really_ well I'll let you leave in fifteen minutes," Alas, Evian had to stay the full half hour before she was let off the hook, "Evian?"

Before exiting the room, Evian glanced over her shoulder as her father approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Yeah?" She asked.

"Nothing," He shook his head, "I love you, I just wanted you to know that,"

The sudden affection made her smile and feel good about herself. She didn't know what she did to earn this but it wasn't often her father declared his love for her and she honestly couldn't remember the last time he said something like that to her. It made her feel a little more like...Tala. It felt _safe_ to know her father felt the same way about her as he did with his son. Of course in the back of her head she knew her father _loved_ her because she was his child but it was nice to hear it verbally once in a while. "Thanks," She finally managed to say before leaving the training room. Luckily she wasn't that tired today since Donatien withheld last night's training session due to today's competition. She made her way into the elevators and to her floor and walked towards the guys' room.

"How was three whole hours of training?" Enrique teased.

"Not sexy," The blonde pouted walking into the room. There was Ray watching TV and Kai lying on his bed, bored, "Where's the idiot?" She asked noticing the absence of her brother.

Looking up, Ray laughed, "Carnival,"

"W-what?"

"He went with Dakota,"

For a few seconds, the blonde stood there trying to register the information, "Did he really go?" She asked, "Or are you guys joking?"

"Yeah, I think he was talking to Dakota this morning," Enrique detailed, "Heard him mention something about the carnival so I'm assuming that's where he went,"

"But," Evian began, her anger surging with each passing second and she desperately tried to keep it under wraps, "He told me he didn't wanna go. I asked him like a million times and he said no," She looked towards the side at nothing in particular, "Like you guys heard, right?" She attempted to gain some sort of support but the Italian only shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. A tantrum about to overflow, she forced a smile, "So...I'm just gonna go now," She lied, "to my room..."

"Alright," Enrique nodded and after a quick wave, shut the door. It was at this time Evian's true colours surfaced as she stormed down the corridors mumbling various obscenities – and gruesome threats – all involving her other half. She continued poking at the elevator button believing this process would help it arrive faster.

After waiting for nearly fifteen seconds, she seemed to lose her patience, "Piece of shit!" She yelled, kicking the wall beside the elevator doors, "Fuck you!" She made a noise of frustration before banging the button with her fist.

"You can get a fine if you break that, you know,"

The blonde gasped; she was pretty sure she was completely alone in the hallway! She turned around only to be more embarrassed to find out her vice captain had witnessed her little 'altercation', if you will, with the elevator.

"Sorry..." Maybe an apology would be appropriate at this time?

Strolling closer, Kai pushed on the elevator button before glancing down at her, "What's with the temper?"

She moved her shoulders up and down, "I don't know," She sighed, "How can he do this to me?" Her frustration spiked once again and she crossed her arms, "I'm gonna beat the shit out of him. I'm gonna go to that carnival right now and kick his..." She trailed off furrowing her eyebrows and walked into the lift that had finally decided to come.

"Look," Kai followed her in, "I'm pretty sure Tala didn't actually wanna go; no guy would want to, that's just homo," And when the blonde raised a brow indicating she was listening, he continued, "It probably went something like this: Dakota called him up and asked him to go and even though he doesn't wanna be at some stupid carnival, he couldn't really say no to her,"

"And what? He can say no to me? I mean I'm his sister! Hel-_lo_! Where's the respect?"

"You know it's not his fault; he didn't have much of a choice,"

"Of course he did, he could have said no. He could have said 'I'm sorry, my sister asked me first, so _no_'. I just think this is so ridiculously unfair, I mean _I_ asked him first,"

"Are you seriously gonna go?" He finally asked once he found himself outside with the still fuming blonde.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, "I'm going over there and I'm gonna pulverize him into a pulp, like orange pulp," She gritted her teeth, "Or anything that has pulp when you mash it up, like carrots and celery and stuff,"

"Do you even know where it is?"

Evian halted in the middle of the streets, "I forgot my Blackberry upstairs; it had GPS on it," And just like that she waved it off, "Oh well, we'll just ask around,"

"_We_?"

"Well I'm going," She stated. With nothing better to do, Kai decided to tag along with the Barbie. Besides, he didn't want her getting lost; she didn't seem too good with directions after all. After literally asking random people on the streets about the carnival's whereabouts, they had made it, "I can't believe he went without me," She grumbled, entering the grounds and as she walked in further, she made a face.

Kai sighed, preparing himself for another girly complaint, "What now?"

"It smells here!"

"Because there're animals here," He rolled his eyes, "They're taking a shit everywhere,"

"Oh my God!" She shrieked, "That's awful! I thought this was going to be fun!" She looked down at her flip flop clad feet, truly disgusted and wishing she'd worn something else. _Stupid Tala_, she thought as she walked past the crowded area trying to hunt down her brother, "Call him," She proposed, "It'll be easier,"

"Easier for you to jump him?" Nonetheless, he called his friend, "Yo, where are you? We're at the carnival..." There was a long pause before he brought the phone down without another word.

"What?" Evian looked confused, "What happened? What did he say? Where are they?"

"Well he's pissed,"

"Why is he pissed? _I'm_ pissed! Call him again,"

"He hung up on me,"

She extended her hand, "Fine, I'll call him," And when she had his phone, she redialled, "Tala! Where are you! If you hang up on me I swear I'll -" She paused, "Hello? Tala?" Realizing her brother had done exactly what she'd told him not to do, she called him again only to receive a familiar, but heinously annoying, message: _the mobile customer you are trying to reach is not in service._ "He turned off his phone!" Her mouth hung open as she gaped blankly at the screen in shock.

"Okay, calm down, we'll find him," Kai reassured before taking his phone back for fear of the livid blonde snapping it in two. But he soon realized she wasn't all that angry anymore, instead, she was upset. He knew his friend couldn't be blamed for going out with a girl he liked but hanging up on him, then his sister, and eventually turning his phone off was a dick move on Tala's part.

"Why don't we just get out of here?" She suggested after a few minutes of walking around, "I mean it's gross here anyway," She reasoned, "I don't wanna smell like poo and I don't think you do either,"

"What do you wanna do?"

"I don't know," She shrugged, "Wanna go shopping or something? We can probably catch a movie too,"

While she continued throwing out ideas, Kai spotted the redhead – and Dakota – somewhere off in the distance, "I see them," He let the blonde know.

She stood on her tip toes, "Where?"

He pointed in the direction, "There; I don't know if you can see them," He grabbed a hold of the blonde, "Let's go,"

As Evian tried to keep up with Kai – well she had to, he was practically dragging her – she couldn't help but feel a little...weird. Something felt a bit off. Kind of like déjà vu. She almost felt as if she'd been here before but she knew that wasn't possible; she'd never been to a carnival before in her life.

"Fuck," Kai cursed, "I lost them," He halted for a bit and scanned his surroundings but with thousands of people all walking around, it was virtually impossible to pinpoint the redhead. But his eyes stumbled upon something else. Scratch that: some_one_. The figure, leaning against a tree a couple of yards away, was clothed in black, all black everything, and the strange part? His – or her – face was covered. Whether this was a bad sign for him and Tala or for someone else around here, he didn't know. And he didn't want to take his chances with Evian around. Turning the other way, he pushed the blonde hastily.

"Where are we going?" Came her practical enquiry, "Aren't we supposed to go _that_ way?" She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder before catching a glimpse of Kai calling someone.

"Does Tala _always_ turn his phone off?" He appeared a little frustrated.

For Evian, whatever feeling seemed to be having intensified. Wrinkling her nose, she rubbed the side of her head, "Kai?"

"What?"

"I feel...sick," She didn't know how else to describe the sensation. Instead of listening to her, he pulled her away from the crowd and towards some parked trailers. She creased her brows; she'd been here before...

"Take this," She felt the slate haired teen shove his phone into her hands, "And stay here,"

Evian's eyes widened, "What...did you say?"

"Don't run off like Tala, I'm being serious. Call him and see if he picks up. I'm going to go and look for him and I'll be back in about fifteen minutes if I can't find him,"

As much as the blonde wanted to say something, she couldn't. She felt frozen. A part of her was horrified and a part of her was insanely confused for the reason that whatever was happening right now, she had _dreamt_ before.

If it was really going according to her dream...then someone was about to get shot.

And it couldn't get any more accurate than that as an ear-splitting gunshot sounded and everyone in the crowd began screaming and running _just_ as they had done so in her dream.

"Get out of here!" She felt a shove and whirled around instantly only to find the slate haired teen running off.

"Where are you going!" She yelled, "Wait!" Terrified of what was going to happen next, she felt her eyes water up. What if someone was after her? What if someone was trying to hurt her? What if someone was about to _kill_ her? And even if she was supposed to get out, she didn't know which way to go. And that's when it hit her: her brother was still here. Confused and not knowing what else to do, she began calling out for him, yelling his name at the top of her lungs trying really hard to outdo everyone else's shouting around her but it was pretty much pointless.

The scene was so chaotic, unlike anything she had ever seen before; families holding hands and running together, parents carrying their children and doing the same, some crying. No matter how much she wanted to just leave, she realized she couldn't. First of all she had to find Tala and second...she was under contractual agreement. But she hadn't a clue what she was supposed to do. She was completely freaking out, her mind racing a mile or more a minute, her thoughts all jumbled up not allowing her to think logically. She wished she never signed those contracts, she wished she was never part of it because she was undeniably scared right now and didn't want anything to do with whatever was about to happen.

Nonetheless she sprinted off in the path she'd seen Kai go to already knowing she was jeopardizing a _lot_. Hopefully she could find him and then find Tala and they could all get out of here in one peace. Remembering the phone her vice captain gave her, she tried to reach the redhead once again but his phone was still off.

The crowd was starting to clear up and the carnival was becoming more and more vacant and so she resorted to yelling once more, "Tala!" She cupped her hands around her mouth, "Kai!"

It was when she found herself _completely_ alone in the middle of the carnival that she felt genuinely afraid. What if her brother had already left? In fact, what if Kai left too? What if she was the only one here? Paranoid, she looked over her shoulder several times and walked cautiously.

She could hear feet patter around the gravel near her but she didn't know where it was coming from, "Tala?" She called again, stopping for a brief moment to get a better listen but her ears were greeted with an eerie silence. On her left were game booths as well as on her right and behind her, some rides. Looking down at the cell phone she dialled her brother's number for the billionth time but with no success, thus continuing her walk down the aisle.

Coming to the end of the walkway, she paused, deciding whether to go left or right. Before she had the time to make up her mind, however, she felt someone behind her and without having the chance to even turn around she felt a hand cover her mouth preventing her from making a sound, and one around her waist forcefully pulling her away.

* * *

**Hey guys...I know, I know...I broke my promise! But I had a couple of chapters done already and then I asked if this story was dragging and some of you said yes, so I'm trying to sort of...mush things together? And if there's something in the story or chapter that seems like it didn't need to be there, don't feel that way, I feel that there is still room for character development and plot development so I promise everything has a purpose! Anyways, it's almost 2 AM, way past my bed time so I'm just gonna thank everyone and leave!!! **

**Waffles – **That is a good question...that I don't have the answer to...LOL!

**Lazy Chick – **Happy belated birthday!

**zeratheliger **

**Crying Sorceress – **You horny pervert!!! Lol I guess we are all horny perverts. Wait. I am not. YOU HORNY PERVERT!!!! LOL!

**BornAtTheBreakOfDawn – **Hey I didn't get any PM from you!!! I checked a million times!

**just a girl –** The credit card thing...is very real! I mean I know with mine, I use it for EVERYTHING! Like I ALWAYS have it. Sad part is my dad pays for it. Omg I'm horrible.

**native-kitten**

**ShadowKat14 – **Omg, the fights me and my brother have are pretty insignificant but sometimes, just SOMETIMES, our fights are SOOOOO brutal! Like we just say everything and anything...yeah it's not good lol. And we throw stuff at each other sometimes! Lol but other than that we get along really well; a lot of people praise us for that.

**kstar orange** –Yeah, its normal for people to change a little – and be in completely denial about it – when they start seeing someone. And I think the disrespect is normal, like my bro does that to me too but before he ALWAYS listened to me. I guess its part of growing up and trying to be defiant, you know? I think it goes good and respectful to defiant and then back to good and respectful when they mature more. At least that's what I'm hoping for! Lol.

**Fuurai – **LOL!!! I turned off the computer for my brother today lmao.

**Kari10 – **It's SOOOOO nice to have someone my age here!!! Lol!!! How is it having an older brother? And I know what you mean about frustrating...my bro is at that age where he's all self conscious and stuff so he comes to my room ALL the time to check his weight (b/c the scale is in my room). SO ANNOYING! Like he'll come 5 times a day and I'm not exaggerating.

**erikamakino – **GASP x a million! You dislike Evian's personality!!! Lol jk I guess I can SORT of understand where you are coming from because everyone – including myself – can be judgemental intentionally or unintentionally. And the story probably doesn't sound that great b/c it was dragging and I'm trying to pick up the pace...if its still sucks then I'm just a sucky plot-come-er-uper...if that made any sense at all!

**NightShroud**

**PS EVERYONE!!! I GOT A JOB!!! ...at a fucking grocery store. Fml? Meh, I just need money right now to save up for school! Do you guys work? If yes, where and what industry? Do you like your job? Tell me in your reviews! xoxo**


	32. Chapter 32

_I wanna be faithful but I can't keep my out the cookie jar._

**DLS **_32_

As hard as it was, Evian tried to pull the stranger's hand away from her mouth. She tried digging her heels into the ground to prevent the person from taking her away but with flip flops on it was a difficult task. She just _had_ to get away no matter what...if she wanted to live. She didn't want to be abducted and killed. She felt the person take her into a super tiny cubicle which she soon realized to be one of those temporary washrooms. She continued to squirm around to free herself but with no avail.

"Shut the fuck up!"

Sea green eyes widened; that was no stranger. That was Tala.

"Quiet, idiot!" He added in a whisper, his hand still planted over her mouth. And she soon understood why. There was someone walking near the stall they were in. As the footsteps neared, the blonde placed a hand over her chest; she could hear her heart beat _so_ loud, she felt whoever was outside could hear it too and give them away. Nonetheless, she remained as quiet as possible. The same couldn't be said about staying still. She was like a cell phone set on vibrate, trembling non-stop against her will.

All she could think about was what if they were found? Just the mere thought of it made her feel lightheaded. Was she going to die? Was he going to die? Were they both going to die? Was it going to be painful? Or fast? Would they be tortured? Was she going to be raped first?

Realizing there was light coming into the cubicle from in between the door, she figured she could see from the narrow crack. The action was followed by the redhead as they both tried to see what was taking place outside. Sure enough someone was there: a sturdy man in a short sleeved black shirt and black trousers. Spotting a golden LAPD insignia on the side of the shirt, Evian turned her head, "It's a cop..."

"I know,"

"Should we leave?" She'd feel _much_ safer with an equipped authority figure. He'd be able to keep them safe, not a stupid washroom, "He's walking away," She added.

"Okay, okay," He cautiously unlatched the lock and pushed the door open and the two of them stepped out.

"Excuse me!" Evian raised a hand, "Sir?"

The officer eyed the twins, "You two alright? Are you hurt?"

The blonde and the redhead shook their head, "But," Started Evian, "There's this guy, Kai, he's still out there. I don't know where he is,"

"I'll call him," Tala proposed.

"You can't," Evian was quick to stop him, "I have his phone," She gestured to the black and grey LG phone in her hands.

The redhead let out an exasperated sigh, "Fuck,"

"That's okay," The chief began, "I've just cleared the area and haven't seen the suspect so I'm sure your friend is fi -"

Tala gave the cop a strange look as he stopped mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open almost as if he was going to continue...but couldn't. The redhead took a step back and Evian let out a scream as the officer suddenly began to topple over to his side. It was then the younger twin realized he'd been shot in the back of his neck and the offender was standing not too far away, gun in his hands, this time aimed towards them. Beside him, he could hear his sister literally urinating herself, the pale yellow liquid running down her legs confirmed that. Fully knowing the consequence of waiting around, Tala yanked his sister's hand and started running not giving a shit if she could keep up or not; he'd drag her across the gravel if he had to. The gunman followed, _shooting_ at them in the process. To avoid being hit, the redhead didn't run in a straight line; he changed direction every two steps. But the wild effort to stay alive seemed to catch up with the blonde as she lost her footing and crashed towards the ground, her hand slipping from her brother's.

Whimpering, Evian propped herself up slightly. She looked over her shoulder, terrified that the man was only a few feet away from her. He'd stopped running, instead he was walking towards her. And that's what frightened her more – the fact that there was no longer a chase. She already felt _dead_. She knew that by the time she got up, she'd probably be shot already.

It was at that point in time she noted Tala MIA. Or was he? It was a lifelong question that always bothered her. Was he going to be there for her? Or was he going to save himself instead? He never _truly_ stood up for her, not when the entire team insulted her in the beginning, not when Hilary told everyone she 'stole' Kai's beyblade, not when his ex girlfriend called her a slut, not when their parents compared their report cards and belittled her in front of him, and not when she was stuck in the car by herself in Kai's driveway with the freak trying to kill her.

The last episode made her realize that this time wasn't any different and he was most likely long gone. She was _completely _alone. In what she presumed to be the last minutes of her life, she tried to tell herself that it was okay that he didn't stay for her. After all, she was older, she was his _big sister_. It was her job to keep him out of harm's way. He didn't have the same job as she did. So it was fine...besides, she was still going in accordance with her 'occupation' at this point because if he was gone, then that meant he was okay.

She was a little hurt, but it was all right. This 'hurt' wasn't going to last long anyway. Any second now, her head would be blown off and a few days from now she'd be buried. She was scared shitless of course, of dying, but she tried not to be. Instead, she desperately tried to remember some kind of prayer that would count towards a ticket to heaven. She wasn't religious. No one in her family was. Sure they celebrated Christmas and that kind of stuff, but going to Church on Sundays and reading the bible was infrequent in the MaCaffery household. As selfish as it sounded, the only time her mom, dad, Tala, and her would even think about God was in times of _serious_ trouble.

_I am sorry,_ was all that Evian could come up with. She was sorry for all the times she lied, for all the times she purposely got her brother in trouble at home, for not being able to keep up with her parents' standards, or even her standards for that matter. She was just sorry. For everything. She knew she might have come off as a little self-centered sometimes but she hoped her family wouldn't doubt her love for them. They were pretty much all she had in _this_ world. And they meant a lot to her. She just wanted them to know that.

Closing her eyes shut, resting her chin on the ground, and for some reason having her hands over her head, Evian awaited her fate. Quick and painless was what she hoped for.

"Evian!"

Cracking an eye open, the blonde looked forward and the scenario wasn't at all what she expected. He was still there, a little stunned by her fall and the situation in general, but still there, a good twelve to fifteen feet from where she was.

"Get up!" The redhead yelled. But when she remained unmoving, he made the move, disregarding the fact that there was a man with a gun standing there as he strolled towards the blonde.

As bi-polar as it was, that's when Evian became aware of the fact that she didn't want him to stay. She wanted him to leave, to be gone. She didn't want to witness anything horrific.

"What are you doing!" She found herself exclaiming, "Go! Just go!" She pointed the other way, "I'll be fine!" She lied, "I'm coming!" For the first time in a long time, Evian noticed how power was restored to her with the big sister title as the redhead stared at her, almost as if waiting for her orders, "Go, stupid!" At that, he looked a little unsure of what to do, "If you don't fucking listen to me, I'll kick your little -"

Instead of completing her sentence, she was startled as gunfire ripped through the air. With her head still ducked down, she tried to pinpoint where she'd been hit. But with no pain, it was difficult to tell. Confused, she turned over and eyed the man only to figure he hadn't even aimed at her.

Afraid of what she'd have to see, she looked in front of her anyway and as she'd suspected, it was Tala. The redhead stared down at himself in shock, bringing his hand to the left of his abdominal area where an intense red started to appear right through his grey Henley. It trickled down his shirt and to his jeans, some of it spilling onto the gravel coating a few pebbles. The impairment was evident when he descended to his knees.

All over again, the blonde began shaking uncontrollably in fear. Her mouth gaped open; she had _never_ seen such a thing in her entire existence. Except for in movies. But this wasn't a movie. She heard the monster behind her sneer and she looked back at him and saw that he was ready to shoot again, "Wait!" She managed to say like a child as she got to her feet, raising both her arms defensively, "I'll give you what you want,"

"You'll give me what I want?"

"Yeah,"

"And what's that?"

"...anything," And she meant _anything_. Whether he wanted to do 'things' to her or kill her, she was okay with the decision, "Whatever you want, I promise," She attempted to compromise, "You don't want him. He's a guy, he'll try to fight you, I won't," She motioned to her skinny and defenceless self.

"I don't want him. I just need to get rid of him,"

"I'll give you money," She offered, "You can have our house for free," She knew she sounded stupid and immature and he probably wasn't going to listen and him laughing at her fixed that, "I'll work for you," She tried to convince endlessly, "Let me get rid of him for you," She reached her hand out for the weapon.

"Do you think I'm stupid little girl?" He scoffed, "What do you think this is? Child's play? Now get lost or you'll see things you probably don't want to,"

When all else failed, Evian finally resorted to being physical, "Stop!" She yelled, running to him and pushing him, "Leave him alone!" She kicked and punched, "Stop!" But with one whack, she was thrown aside, "Don't do it!" She got back up and tried to stop him once again; it was either do everything and anything or have Tala murdered right in front of her.

She soon realized he was one of those men that didn't think anything of hitting a girl as he slapped her across the face with more power than was necessary, leaving a high pitched buzzing sound in her ears. Jumping back to her feet, she threw herself at him again, grabbing a hold of the hand that was carrying the gun and tried to move it away. She could hear the fabric of her tank top snag as he tried to pull her by it. When she fell again, she picked up some rocks and threw it at him. When that did nothing, she went at him once more, aiming for his leg and biting down on it. He pulled her by the hair and the harder he pulled, the harder she bit.

"Friggin' bitch!" He shrieked and hit her with the back of his gun, freeing himself instantly. Clutching the back of her head, Evian stared at the man with furrowed eyebrows wondering what to do next. Her trail of thought was cut short when he stooped down to her level, startling the crap out of her as she crawled back, "Pathetic little whore," He spat before raising his hand to smack her across the face again.

Before he could hit her, however, someone else grabbed the man's hand, "I fucking _dare_ you to touch her," The blonde looked up to see her knight in shining armour. Oh wait, that was just Kai. Meh, close enough. She smiled, indicating some form of relief. The slate haired teen pinned the man down, one hand on the ground and the other gripped around his neck, the gun fallen a short distance away, "Say sorry,"

"Fuck...you..." The man managed to spit.

"_Apologize_," Kai repeated, this time putting more force into his chokehold. Seeing as the man wasn't going to comply, he looked over at Evian, "Get Tala out of here,"

The fair haired girl nodded hastily and hurried over to the crumpled heap that was her brother. For the second time in a row, Evian was utterly traumatized. The most blood she had _ever_ seen in her life was when Tala's nose bled after she punched him when they were twelve. But this...she had no words to describe the scene, it was horrible. There was so much blood everywhere – on his clothes, on his hands, on the ground – she thought there was no more blood left in him. There was literally a _puddle_ of blood, a good 30 centimetres in diameter. Even though it was obvious what she was supposed to do, Evian found it impossible to act in accordance with the situation; she couldn't even think rationally.

Fearfully, she turned him over and tried to check for signs of life. She made a mental list of what she was supposed to verify: _pulse, breathing, eyes..._ But she found it impossible to work with her very own self. It was as if she had Alzheimer's preventing her from keeping her hands and the rest of her body motionless.

"Ev..." The blonde gasped as the redhead shifted somewhat, "I feel..."

"You're fine, you're fine, you feel okay," She finished for him, delicately pulling him to a sitting position.

"...throwing up..."

"That's okay," She said, "But you have to get up first," She slowly stood up trying to get him to as well.

"I can't," He mumbled.

"Yeah you can," She encouraged, only to have him shake his head, "Are you a girl, Tala? Mom and dad already gave you a girl's name and you have long eye lashes so maybe..."

"...not a girl..."

"Then? Be a man, Tala!" She pressed on, "We're only gonna walk for a couple of seconds. You can count," It took a while but he was finally up, clinging onto the blonde for dear life, "Okay, so you can start counting," She added as she began walking _ever so_ slowly down the path they were originally set to go to before her little accident.

"1...?"

"And then?"

"2,"

"Okay,"

"...3,"

"Can you count to 10?"

"It hurts, Evian..."

"You don't know how to count to 10, Tala? Are you a baby? What comes after 3?"

"I'm...Evian, I'm cold,"

Truth be told, he was scaring the daylights out of her but she tried to pull everything together, "Who has the biggest tits in Hollywood?"

"Kim Kardashian,"

"She has a huge ass too,"

"It's too big, I don't like it..." He stopped abruptly, making her stop as well, "I feel like fainting..."

"We're almost there," By 'there', she referred to the parking lot, "Come on, twit," She made sure she had a firm grip on him in case he really did start falling, "What's the difference between a drug dealer and a hooker?"

"...hooker can..." He rested his head on hers', "...she can sell herself again..."

Evian nodded, "What do Tupperware and a walrus have in common?"

"I dunno..."

"They both like a tight seal,"

"...you're dirty Evian..."

"What's another name for pickle bread?"

"...the fuck is...pickle bread?"

"Dill-dough,"

"You're nasty..." The redhead said, "Tell me another one,"

"What's the speed limit of sex?"

"What is it?"

"68,"

"Why 68?" He paused and chuckled, "Oh...because at 69...it's the other way...okay, my turn, my turn: why is orgasm a 6-letter word?"

"Why?" She enquired but was afraid to find out the answer to the riddle.

"Because it's easier...to spell than...ohmygodyesohshitdeeperyesgodpleasefuckyesyesfuckmebaby,"

Evian rolled her eyes, "You think I'm dirty? Because that was just perverted,"

The redhead laughed, "I have another one. Why do bald guys have holes in their pockets?"

"Why?"

"So they can run their fingers through their hair,"

"Tala! Ew! Oh my God! That's just...oh my God!" While she continued to shriek, Tala cracked up at his own joke. Evian shook her head and finally found herself in the parking lot, a few cars still present. Dragging him with her, she decided hiding in between cars was a good idea for now. She made him sit against the frame of a Nissan, "We're gonna wait here until Kai comes back," She said in a quiet voice as she scanned the area and picked up a pretty large rock before sitting beside him, "Just in case..." Came her reasoning for the makeshift weapon.

"Ev...ian?"

"Yeah?"

"What's gonna happen," He whispered, "to me?"

The blonde narrowed her eyes, "Nothing is gonna happen to you, you chicken. Stop being scared,"

"...it really hurts,"

"It's gonna be okay. Just don't think about it," She told him as she kneeled down to look under the cars just to make sure no one was trying to sneak up on them. At the same time, she could feel her brother tugging at her expressing his panic.

"He's...he's gonna kill me...Evian...he's gonna..."

"Shut the hell up," The blonde turned her attention back to the redhead, who seemed to be shivering at this point, "No one's gonna kill you," She pledged.

"Can you hold my hand?"

"Tala you're such a wuss," She remarked but did so anyway, "Here, talk to me. Tell me about Dakota," Mentioning the other blonde, Evian wondered where she'd gone, "What happened to her?"

"We got separated when...when shit hit the fan,"

"Okay," She nodded before giving him a sympathetic smile, "Let's play a game, k? I'm gonna name a movie and whatever letter it ends with, you have to think of another movie that starts with that letter. So I pick...Terminator,"

He seemed interested, "Risky Business,"

"Sex and the City,"

The redhead scrunched his face, deep in thought for a movie starting with Y, "Year One,"

"Eagle Eye,"

"Enemy of the State,"

"E again?" Frowned Evian, "Exorcist,"

"Total Recall,"

At the mention of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, Evian laughed, "That movie scared the shit out of you! You slept in my room that night!"

"Shut up, Evian, it scared you too,"

The blonde shook her head and grinned in triumph, "You wish it scared me,"

"You...you blackmailed me for a month, remember?" He reminisced, "Do everything you say or you'd tell everyone at school. You were mean. You still are,"

The blonde chuckled for that was the truth. Evian was a royal bitch. She was always the 'boss', always ordering him around and if he didn't listen she'd always find ways to make him listen. If _only_ it was possible to back in time and relive those days. Days when the word 'worry' didn't exist in either of their vocabularies. Days when she'd never find herself in a situation like this.

Feeling his head droop onto her shoulders, she nudged him, "Total Recall, right? So...Legally Blonde," She waited for a couple of seconds before shaking him, "Name a movie that starts with E, come on,"

"...Exorcist,"

"No, I already said that so you have to pick another one," She rejected and gave him some time. But when no response came, she smacked him on the face slightly, "I can think of a _million_ movies brat, so hurry up,"

"E.T.,"

She was horrified as she realized he was starting to fade and there was a sickly feeling in her gut, "I can't think of anything that starts with T, Tala, so I need your help," She lied in an attempt to be more interactive.

"I'm...tired, Evian..."

Completely scared shitless, the blonde began to cry, "I promise I won't be mean and stuff anymore..." She was alleviated however, when the slate haired teen made an appearance. He looked a little dishevelled and there were a few dirt smudges across his striped jersey material hoodie.

Examining the scene, Kai eyed the sobbing blonde, "Did you call for an ambulance?"

Evian stared at him for a while almost as if she didn't understand English before her lips quivered and her face flushed from anxiety, "I forgot..." She felt like a complete idiot.

"I'll call," He took over, squatting in front of his injured friend, "Did you at least put pressure on it?"

"Pressure on what?"

Her lack of knowledge was enough to let him know she hadn't done the basics. He used his shoulder to keep the phone pressed to his ears and used his hands to control the bleeding. With the amount of blood already lost, Kai didn't know if this method was even useful right now.

"I said I wouldn't be mean anymore," He heard her say, "I told him I wasn't gonna be rude. I even promised," She added, her tone completely distraught.

"- yeah, we're at the carnival that happens in your city every year," The bluenette started speaking into the phone, detailing the situation to the lady on the other line, "We're in the parking lot. I'm doing that right now. He's conscious. K," While he was put on hold, he turned to the frightened girl, "He'll be fine. Just don't let him fall asleep,"

Evian nodded and sniffed back her runny nose, "Hey, so, we're gonna play another game," She started but kept her voice down as the vice captain continued talking on the phone, "Let's name cars,"

"Any car?" Enquired the redhead; after all, anything to do with cars was appealing to him.

"Yeah, make or model. You go first,"

"Lambo," Tala named his first car.

"Bentley,"

"Skyline,"

"Evo,"

"Evo's gay. Lancer," A couple of cars later, the sound of sirens filled the vicinity. Although the mood in the ambulance was uplifting, there was an evident undertone of worry and concern. They finally arrived to the hospital, the redhead getting separated from the rest temporarily. The blonde and the bluenette sat in the waiting room, a couple of seats apart, waiting for Mr. MaCaffery's arrival.

Evian held onto Kai's cell phone, sliding it open and close unconsciously, disregarding the fact that she was killing the battery. There were a few scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs as well as a tiny graze on the side of her face. A sandal was missing. Nonetheless, she appeared rather...normal. But there was something about her just wasn't adding up. Kai let it go; Evian wasn't his sister, wasn't his girlfriend, and she wasn't his cousin. She was a friend, but not that close.

"Hey," Kai raised a brow to let the blonde know he was listening, "Do you believe in premonitions?"

"Premonitions?" He repeated. The question seemed irrelevant and came at him out of the blue. In fact, he was surprised a four syllable word even existed in her blonde vocabulary, "Why?"

She lifted one shoulder lazily, "Just asking,"

"It's bullshit," He said at last, "No one can see into the future,"

"Oh," Her eyes were glued to some demo game on his phone, "Okay,"

Mr. MaCaffery came shortly after, filling out some forms and being the first person allowed to see his son. After being with the redhead for a good thirty minutes, he gave Evian and Kai the green light to see him as well.

"Wanna see the stitches?"

The blonde was, understandably, appalled. That wasn't exactly the first thing she wanted to hear stepping into the room, "...no," She stated simply before standing over his tray of food, "You didn't eat?"

"I ain't eating that shit," He referred to steamed vegetables and other things he deemed as 'shit'.

"Want something from downstairs?" Kai offered.

The redhead shook his head, "I'm not really hungry,"

"Does it hurt?" Evian plopped down on a nearby chair.

"Not anymore," He confirmed, "Anyways, about today's battle," He brought up, "I can't beyblade today,"

"So we're bailing from the tournament," Kai seemed to deduce.

"No," Tala shook his head, "Enrique can fill in for me,"

"That's allowed?"

"Enrique was never actually kicked off the team. I only replaced him with Evian and still kept him as a substitute," The redhead explained, "You should know, you were co-signer of all those retarded forms,"

"I didn't read anything, I just signed them," Kai admitted nonchalantly.

"So obviously Ev needs a partner. Enrique and her won't make a good pair. It'll have to be either you or Ray to balance things out. Otherwise you guys can't win," He glanced over at the sister, "Any particular preference, Blondie?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. Kai?"

There was a highly bizarre sense of _relief_ for the vice captain, such a sickening level of it that he considered telling her that Ray would be a better choice for her. Kai felt disgusted, almost psychopathic, for being so over the moon by her decision. Evian was a ridiculously gorgeous girl and it was normal for men to stare her down, look at places where they weren't supposed to even with Tala and her very own father around, flirt with her and throw her compliments hoping she'd crawl right into their mattress for the night. But with Kai? It was like a truly grotesque and growing obsession that he knew he wasn't supposed to feel.

"So there," Tala concluded, "Now you just have to figure out the rest of the setup for the team,"

"And how are we feeling?" Enquired the male doctor as he stepped inside with a clipboard. He was young, possibly in his late to very early thirties and as handsome as Doctor Travis from _The Doctors_ show.

"Good," The redhead said. But it seemed as if Evian was better. Tala rolled his eyes at the blonde who ogled the dark haired MD, a shameless yet dorky smile plastered on her face.

"I think," The blonde pushed out her bottom lip in a pout, "I hurt myself too..."

**x x x**

With a big paper bag labelled _McDonald's_, Mr. MaCaffery walked through the corridors of the Los Angeles hospital. After making a right turn and passing by three doors, he entered the room his son was staying in. He expected the redhead to be asleep or text his friends from boredom or _something_. However, his younger child sat slouched in his bed, an expression on his face signifying he was mildly upset.

Well it made sense.

Brandon took a step forward to make his presence known, "BigMac and fries?" That seemed to cheer him up as he nodded enthusiastically. The brown haired man gave him a sympathetic smile and settled himself on the edge of the uncomfortable hospital bed. If you could really even call it that. He reached into the paper bag and took out the two burgers, one for himself and one for his son, "Fries are in the bag," He added.

"Finally some real food," Tala remarked – as oxymoronic that was – before taking a monster size bite out of it, "So the team's," He spoke with his mouthful; an action he could get away with in front of his father but never with his mother or sister around, "at the stadium?"

Mr. MaCaffery nodded, "I dropped them off and came right back. I'll be staying here with you for the night. We get to leave in the morning,"

"Oh," The redhead grabbed a couple of fries and dipped them into the sauce from his burger instead of ketchup.

"So..."

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel about your sister going into modelling?"

The redhead burst out laughing, "You know she's too short, right?"

"Not for runway modelling. I got a call from DKNY today. They want her endorsing their jeans,"

"...seriously dad?"

"I haven't told her about it yet. I thought I'd discuss it with you and your mom first,"

"_Really_ dad? Did they really call?"

"She's not doing well in school," Brandon went on, "So if this is something she might have a future career in then I think it's a great opportunity,"

"Yeah but a modelling career doesn't last forever, especially for girls; there's a certain age when the industry won't want her anymore," He took another bite out of his burger and pondered on the subject, "How much is she getting paid?"

"Oh, just the regular amount,"

Tala looked at his father funny, "What regular amount? I don't know how much they're supposed to make. She _is_ getting paid to do it, right?"

"Of course she is,"

"So how much?"

"Not _that_ much,"

Annoyed, the redhead rolled his eyes, "Dad, just give me a number,"

"She'll be getting $300,"

The blue eyed boy wrinkled his nose in scepticism, "That little for DKNY?"

Brandon shrugged his shoulders, "Money is money. Anyways, it that doesn't matter, what's important is that..."

While his father went on and on about the subject at hand, Tala couldn't help but feel a little deceived. Donna Karan was a _huge_ brand and he was expecting at _least_ five grand. It really didn't make much sense and he had trouble wrapping his head around the facts.

**x x x**

"So everyone clear?" The Skittles were in the locker room and Kai had just finished explaining the order to them.

"Uh, yeah, pretty clear on that," Enrique wrinkled his nose, "But what happened to Tala?"

"I already told you," Kai was noticeably irritated.

The Italian gave his former vice captain a hard gaze before turning to Evian, "Come on, tell me what _actually_ happened, we all wanna know,"

The blonde shrugged her shoulders, tilting her head in the process, "He said he felt really sick so we took him to the hospital,"

"People don't just get fucking sick and end up at a hospital," Enrique argued, "Come on man!" He stood up and approached the bluenette, "The fuck's going on? You think I'm an idiot?"

The slate haired teen seemed to have finally snapped. "Sit the fuck down and shut up,"

Disappointed and not wanting things to escalate, the baby blonde inched back. No one on the team, not Mariah, not Hilary, and not Ray, believed the lie Kai and Evian were trying to feed them. But what happened wasn't any of their business. It was bad enough Evian had to see and Kai was betting with himself on how long she could keep her mouth shut. Girls usually couldn't keep things to themselves.

"Can I get a drink? I'm thirsty,"

What was he? The boss? Well technically, yes. But did they really need to ask him if they could go to the washroom or get a drink? Sheesh! Kai raised his head, his gaze shifting to the blonde girl who looked at him curiously, waiting for an answer, "Five minutes," He set a time limit and watched the girl scurry out of the room.

**x x x**

Glancing over at her Blackberry for the time, Evian raked her fingers through her hair, "Come on, come on," She mumbled. Hearing the door to the ladies' public washroom swing open the blonde poked her head out of the stall she was in and smiled casually as a familiar curly haired brunette boy walked in. Evian waved her hand inward, motioning for him to come over.

He sent her a dopey grin, "I like where this is going,"

The blonde rolled her eyes, "All of Tala's friends are off limits to me and I'm off limits to all his friends," She paused, a finger resting on the side of her lip, "Which sucks because he has really cute friends,"

Marshal laughed, "So what's up?"

"I need to talk to you about something," She slid the small bolt across to lock the door, "I need you to be honest,"

"Sure,"

"Remember a while ago how you said some stuff to me? Like how Tala and Kai were in trouble..."

The brunette chuckled, "I smoked up that night before talking to you, babe. Sorry if I scared you, I don't even remember what I said," But when the blonde slowly shook her head left to right indicating she didn't quite believe him, he raised his arms in defence, "I swear Evian,"

"I said I need you to be honest with me. Please,"

"Did something happen?"

The blonde jacked up her pinky finger, "Promise me you're not gonna tell anyone anything,"

"Okay, okay," He nodded quickly, connecting his finger with hers', "What's going on?" He whispered, his face becoming serious all of a sudden.

"They really are in trouble. I don't know why. Shit happened today,"

"What shit?"

"...Tala almost died today,"

"Alright, look, I was just messing with you, k? So you can stop fucking with me too. I said sorry," He was surprised when the blonde shoved him against the wall.

"You need to tell me what the hell you know, okay? Because I'm not gonna wait around for some fucker to shoot my brother again. So you tell me right now,"

Marshal's eyes widened, "Are you serious? Where is he? Is he okay?"

"You can't tell him I told you. Don't tell anyone anything. Pretend like we never even had this conversation,"

"Is he okay?" The brunette repeated.

"If you really effing care, which you should because you've known him for so friggin' long, then you'll tell me everything,"

The boy exhaled out loudly and leaned against the door, "I don't know anything,"

"Is it because I'm a girl? 'Cause I have blonde hair and I'm stupid, right?" Evian frowned as the boy looked away from her, his orbs absentmindedly focusing on the toilet. It was when her green eyes caught something plummeting towards the orange tiled floor she realized...he was crying. Her features softened immediately; she'd never seen a boy his age cry before, "Marshal?"

He began shaking his head suddenly, trying to tell her something she couldn't decipher if her life depended on it, "I don't know anything...I don't know anything...I don't know anything...I don't know anything..."

Evian found herself stepping back in caution for the boy was behaving strangely, saying the exact same over and over again. It was when he reached into his pocket she felt her heart skip a beat. In all her years that she'd known him, mostly through her brother, she'd trusted him. But now she didn't know what the boy was doing. He was blocking the doorway and she couldn't escape even if she tried. Something shiny was yanked out of his pocket and at first she presumed it to be a knife or blade but when a slightly tangled silver chain with a heart locket dangled loosely from his fingers, she gasped.

It was a necklace. _Her_ necklace.

_"No! No get away from me!" Evian tried to attack her kidnapper with her house keys but dropped them somewhere as a result of tension. _

_"You know Tala MaCaffery and Kai Hiwatari."_

_"I don't know them!" While she fought for her life, his goal seemed to be to keep her still and as he continued, the blonde could feel the chain around her neck break off as he pulled on it by mistake._

Grabbing her hair with both hands in fear and confusion, Evian backed away, eventually stumbling over on the toilet seat. Marshal had been the attacker all along? He was the one trying to kill everyone? She blinked back a couple of tears. How could Tala be friends with such a villain for so long and not find a fault?

"I don't know anything..." The blonde fixed her eyes on Marshal. He was just standing there, his hand extended forward with the jewellery. He seemed to finally regain his composure, "I don't know anything, Evian," And with that he shook his head all over again.

Evian gave Tala's ex best friend a hard stare in puzzlement. Why wasn't he attacking her? Wasn't he supposed to kill her? He could do it so easily right now, no one would ever know. It took her a few seconds, and luckily he was patient, but it hit her then that he wasn't trying to harm her, he was trying to tell her something. Imbedded in his actions was a double message she was supposed to work through. He said he didn't know anything but that was constantly followed by a different gesture using his head – he _did_ know something, he just couldn't tell her. Not verbally at least. Was he being watched? Was he being monitored? He'd hinted something of the sort when he first tried to clue her into things.

Gradually, the blonde nodded. She understood him. She knew what he was trying to tell her. She reached forward for the necklace, something he'd used as a tool to really get her to grasp onto reality. He couldn't have gotten the necklace from anywhere; it meant someone they knew mutually was involved with whatever was taking place. She quickly went through her memory's museum in an attempt to figure out who it could have and may have been. It couldn't be anyone from school, maybe someone from Toronto but she wasn't sure who, and she couldn't really think of any enemies that she had and she couldn't come up with any for Tala either except for immature foes that came with girl drama. The only other common person she could think of was Marshal's team. She recalled the first time her brother and Kai met their coach Boris. Or so she thought it was their first time...

_"So we meet again, hmm?" Boris started as he grinned at the redhead and bluenette, "How have you been young Kai? Well I hope. And look at you, Tala. My, you've grown so much since I've seen you last."_

At the time the blonde was baffled that she didn't know someone who seemed to know her brother when he was younger. But clearly they'd met before. Could this have anything to do with what Donatien and her father mentioned to her? BioVolt? Nothing else emerged other than that. It made sense now; why her brother freaked out when he first saw the team and why Kai looked as if he had taken a crap in his pants. She didn't know _everything_ but this was a start.

And Marshal wasn't the bad guy here. _"You don't understand!"_ He had said, _"Even if I runaway, or try to escape, they'll hunt me down just like they're doing to Tala and Kai. And they'll kill me, Evian. They really will. And not only me, they'll kill everyone I know, like my Ma and my old man. Shit man. No one can help, Evian, no one." _The brunette was being forced to do something against his choice. But he was willing to help her to the best of his ability.

Marshal raised a finger to his lips in an all too familiar indication and lifted his pinky forward. So she promised him, just like he promised her, and bobbed her head up and down.

**x x x**

A frown was evident on Kai's face; where he'd given the girl five minutes, she'd taken more than fifteen and still counting. "Where were you?" He demanded from Evian as soon as she came in.

She held a Dasani water bottle, "The line was long,"

That wasn't possible; he'd been there a couple of seconds ago looking for her. "K," He didn't let her know that he knew she was lying. Whatever she was up to he could find out about it later, "We're going first,"

She agreed but seemed to have something else on her mind as well, "What if Stardust does what it did last time?" Evian didn't want such a brilliant beyblader to lose just because of her stupid bit beast. And she really didn't want to see him lose. It would be too weird for her – he was good at what he did and she didn't want to have it any other way.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that,"

"Okay," She shrugged her shoulders and went back to her seat, harassed by Ray and Enrique once again in the process, "I think it was food poisoning," She detailed, "His fries fell and he just picked it up and ate it right off the ground, it was so not sexy,"

The European nodded, "More than five seconds then, damn,"

Evian was appalled, "Why does it matter how long it's been on the ground? If food falls on the ground, especially outside, you don't eat it! That's how you get retarded cow disease!"

"_Mad_ cow disease," Kai corrected from afar, a little preoccupied examining his beyblade. He didn't bother telling the blonde that that wasn't even how one would get said virus. It would turn into a seriously stupefied long conversation he didn't feel like getting into. Evian was one of _the_ dumbest girls he'd ever come across. How she cruised through school and even made it to grade twelve was beyond him. Didn't any of the teachers try to keep her back a year or two?

This is what set Hilary apart from Evian. One of them had a brain. Of course Hilary was a pretty girl and constantly had boys running around her, but it didn't compare to Evian. The girl was _major_ eye candy any way you looked at her. She had a cute butt, the things up top, she was fit as hell, and of course, she was blonde – a popular pick among men.

It was something Kai had a thing for as well. But he also admired a girl with intelligence. And for him, that was what divided the line between eyeing a girl down harmlessly – maybe even a little innocent flirting that meant nothing – and actually falling for a girl. Thus, he deemed himself in the safe zone when it came to Evian. He'd sneak a few glances at his friend's sister but he could never _like_ her; she really wasn't his type.

Besides, things with Hilary were good. He wasn't bored of her, she wasn't bored of him, the sex could be a little more kinky and frequent, but it was all good in the end. They had a good relationship, a comfortable one, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Looking at his cell phone, he noticed that it was time to get going and so led the team to the arena. The other team, a Korean team, was already present. The vice captain dragged the blonde to the front, not necessarily caring whether she fixed her beyblade onto her launcher the right way or not. It didn't matter anyway, this battle was his. He had to show Evian that he wasn't an idiot. He didn't need her help. He didn't want her help. He will _never _use her help. The battle in France left a mark that he was going to erase using this battle.

And that was exactly what he did. The _second_ all four beyblades landed into the disk, two of them were taken out with a mere hit.

Evian eyed the dish, "We're...done?" For a beyblade known for its speed, hers' hadn't even completed _one_ lap around the dish, maybe not even half. But she was even more awestruck when she felt something warm hover over her: Dranzer. It wasn't hot to the point where she was uncomfortable and it wasn't barely-there either. The heat emanating from the phoenix felt _so_ pleasant. It reminded Evian of how she stood right next to the heater after walking home from school in the snow with temperatures dipping thirty below zero and her hands were numb. Or when she stood next to the stove while she made pasta. Or standing directly under the early evening sun at a Californian beach. Or hugging her mom while she cried over something. It was that friendly and satisfying warmth everyone craved for. It just felt so damn good.

And it wasn't just that. Dranzer wasn't a damn wolf. Or a fox. It wasn't a _wild _animal. She didn't scare the crap out of the blonde like Wolborg and Stardust did. Evian wasn't a big fan of snow, cold, and ice anyway; for her it was just uncomfortable and she preferred this over that any day. She snapped out of it when the warmth started fading, the bit beast going back into the spinning blue beyblade, "Wait," She mumbled absentmindedly, slightly reaching forward. After all the stressful events that had happened around her – and to her – lately, she just really wanted to savour this feeling. But it was too late. The creature was gone and the blade flew back to its righteous owner.

Mariah and Hilary were up next, followed by Enrique and Ray. All rounds were won by The Skittles, moving them up to the next slot. Every team member had a smile on their face, everyone high-fiving each other for their victory, a couple of fans coming down to retrieve autographs and pictures. But the joy had to end somewhere. For Evian, it was when she found herself sitting in Donatien's hotel room.

"Tell me what happened today," The elder man stood across from the blonde, a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Didn't my dad already tell you? It was awful. He almost died today..."

"And you're upset?"

Evian creased her brows and looked up at Kai's grandfather, "What kind of a question is that? Like...obviously. Today was by _far_ the worst day of my life,"

"Your life or his life?"

"_My_ life. I'm the one who had to see all that stuff. I had to see him all..." She didn't find the need to continue. She couldn't. What was she supposed to say? 'Oh I saw him get shot' or 'He waited for me so that's why it happened'. It was horrible. "I couldn't even do anything. The guy practically beat me up. He was so big," Her palm reached the side of her face, the stinging sensation coming back as she recalled the events, "And he hit so hard..." She'd been hit before but not so sadistically, "I couldn't do a thing," And it was the worst feeling in the world to not be able to do anything, "I couldn't stop it when it mattered the most. I didn't even know it was going to get this bad..."

"I told you, Evian. With this kind of occupation, an 'I didn't know' is never acceptable,"

"You told me there were people after his bit beast; you didn't tell me people were trying to kill him. He's only seventeen, he didn't do anything. He's kind of an annoying asshole sometimes but he's a good guy. He's just a baby...don't people feel bad for trying to kill a baby?" She sighed, "Are people gonna try to kill Kai too?"

"I couldn't tell you,"

"You just said an 'I don't know' is never acceptable..."

Donatien couldn't help but smile fondly at the girl, "Now you're using your brain," He told her, "But I would assume there is,"

"If they want his stupid Wolborg, then they can just take it. I'll even give it to them, I don't care if Tala hates me forever," She pushed herself off the bed, "Let's go give it to them right now. I won't even tell him I gave it away and neither will you. No one's gonna know. Tala will just think it went missing or something,"

"No need to get emotional,"

"I'm not being emotional, I'm being smart. If that's all they want then let's let them take it. Then all this shit stops. No one will go after them anymore,"

"I wish things were that easy, Evian, but they just aren't. If those bit beasts get into the wrong hands then calamity is expected,"

"Calamari?"

"No, _calamity_. It means disaster. Weren't you born in an English speaking country? Why is your vocabulary so poor?"

The blonde overlooked the critique, "What disaster? A lot of people have bit beasts. It's not like its super rare or something. Even I have one,"

"Some are more powerful than others,"

"So what? Are Dranzer and Wolborg the _most_ powerful on Earth? I don't think so. Why don't they just look for other ones?"

"And some bit beasts have been around for much longer than others making them pure. There are a lot of factors that make them significant,"

"So how old is Dranzer? Like a gazillion years old? Why the hell would someone want something so ancient, that's so retarded, I'm honestly not getting it. Say they get the bit beast, what can they do with it?"

"It's not what they can do with it, it's a matter of what can happen if all the elements come together,"

"What elements?"

"Evian, what are the most important aspects of life? What are things humans would not survive without?"

"The mall,"

"Please be serious,"

"I'm being serious. The mall has clothes. Humans need clothes. It's not like people can just walk around naked, that's just obscene,"

"I'm talking about certain elements. For example, fire is an important one; we can cook with it, it keeps us warm, it provides us with light. Without the sun, life on this planet wouldn't exist. Then there's water for obvious reasons. Air or wind is essential as well, the two of them interchangeable. Earth is an element also. Personally I think these are the four elements that exist but some say there are five, maybe even six,"

"What are they?"

"Metal, the sky, void, or wood,"

Evian nodded and tried to put two and two together but instead of finding an answer, she was engulfed by further questions, "So what does Tala have anything to do with this? I get Kai, because of Dranzer and stuff, but I don't understand why my brother matters to any of this stuff,"

"What do you get when you melt ice?"

"Water? Okay fine, but why not just go after an actual _water_ element? Dakota's bit beast has the power of water. So does this other guy from her team. So do other people,"

"Water, ice, snow and everything of the like are essentially the same,"

"This is so retarded," Sea green eyes rolled in cynicism, "I don't believe any of this stuff,"

"You're not the only one. It's like religion. Some people follow Islam, some follow Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Wicca, and then there are people who don't believe any of it, atheism,"

"So if all these _stuff_ come together," She brought her hands as one to signify what she meant, "What happens then? Like a nuclear bomb? Like Hiroshima or something?"

Taking a sip of his coffee, Donatien shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, Evian, no one knows. But anyways, bit beasts are a very complicated topic. It's completely impossible to know _everything_ about them because there's just so much to know. There's also a lot that we _don't_ know, it's a very controversial subject,"

The blonde's shoulders slumped slightly, "So what do we do now?"

"There's nothing much you can do except be prepared. I don't think you were today. You didn't even have your phone,"

"I didn't know it was gonna happen,"

"You have to expect it. Anywhere and everywhere, any _time_. Always have your phone with you so we can communicate. Always be prepared. Never doubt anything. And don't trust everyone so easily because you really never know. This is why I need you to be serious about your training but you don't have to worry about it for tonight, I want you to take a break, sleep things off,"

Although she liked the idea, Evian doubted she'd actually get any sleep. With her brother down for the count and with her father gone to stay with him for the night...how safe was she? _Really_ now, how safe was she enclosed inside a hotel room with Mariah and Hilary? Hilary wasn't as tough as she seemed; she came off as a complete chicken with the attack in France. And the blonde doubted Mariah could protect her either. Things have happened before. Things happened today. And things were going to keep happening.

It was nearly 3 in the morning when the blonde pushed her covers aside. She was _so_ tired but too afraid to close her eyes. This happened often, usually after a scary movie and irrational fear of monsters. It was the reason why she always kept her bedroom door slightly ajar when she slept. But this time...there was a real horror. Movies were fiction. Monsters were figments of her imagination.

People trying to kill her to get to her brother wasn't fiction or her imagination.

Disturbed, she grabbed her Blackberry, a cigarette and a lighter, and went outside. She knew it wasn't safe to be out here either, especially at this time. Where exactly was she supposed to be then? Toronto wasn't safe. Traveling wasn't safe. A fucking cop couldn't keep her safe. A part of her felt like just standing there and letting whatever it was just come and take her, beat her, or kill her. She couldn't fight it off. And when she really thought about the _number_ of people coming after all of them, it scared her more. There was the clown guy – who quite possibly could be connected to Marshal's team – there was the girl from France, the guy from today. Was there more? After all, there was only one of her. There was only one of Tala. And only one of Kai. If there were more people they would be completely outnumbered.

She found herself looking up, a little disappointed with the light pollution preventing her from seeing every star in the sky.

"Looking for the Big Dipper again?"

Evian shook her head as Kai walked up to her, "It's impossible," She sighed, "Even though they're the brightest stars in Ursa Major,"

The vice captain crossed his arms and cocked a brow, "You know what that is?"

"It's a constellation,"

"...you know what a constellation is?"

The blonde rolled her eyes and didn't bother with a comeback. Instead, she stuck with a brief explanation of her knowledge, "I read about it," She took a drag and let it out after some seconds, "But I didn't understand everything," The words used in the issue of Scientific American were too difficult to fully fathom. Nonetheless, she remembered completing the entire article in a doctor's office when she was bored. It was one of those times when her parents took Tala to see a practitioner...except it wasn't because of assumed developmental issues. They were about ten at the time and it was a couple of weeks after he returned from seeing their _grandmother_ in _Vancouver_. He was acting very strangely as far as the blonde could remember: hiding behind the curtains, not wanting to take a shower, never letting go of his beyblade even when he went to sleep. She tried to take it away from him once, just because she could. He pushed her down the stairs. She never did it again.

At the time she never gave it much thought. Tala was a weird kid – that was her assumption. Now that she knew a fraction of the actual story at hand, she could only assume even more as to why he was the way he was. Maybe he was scared? Thinking about the past got her thinking about the present, "What did you do to him?"

"Who?"

"That guy at the carnival; what'd you do to him?"

There was a brief silence following her enquiry and then, "He'll live," He said simply.

She didn't like his answer. He'll live. What was that supposed to mean? There was something very eerie about it. She highly doubted Kai just let him go. She wondered just how badly they'd fought. The blonde examined her vice captain with the corner of her eyes, almost as if she was spying on him. Did he..._kill _him? She shivered; was she standing beside a _killer_? She shrunk back without thinking, "What'd you do to him..."

"I said he'll live, isn't that enough?" He snapped, "No one asked you to get involved in any of this,"

"Any of _what_?"

"Whatever's going on,"

"What's going on?"

Annoyed by the number of questions and her curiosity, he remained quiet. Luckily for him, she got the hint. But it wasn't in a way he expected, "You know how when one person calls someone crazy," She started, flicking the cigarette butt off into the distance, "but that person isn't really crazy?" She looked at him, "But then everyone thinks that one person is crazy just because someone said their crazy?"

"I don't think you're crazy,"

"And in the end," She continued despite his affirmation, "They all gang up on that one person and pressure them to think that they really are crazy,"

"No one is trying to make you think you're crazy. There's some shit going on. Leave it alone,"

"It's kind of hard to leave something alone that won't leave you alone,"

Auburn eyes shifted towards the ground in dismay. Unfortunately for him, the blonde was right. He left it alone. He never talked about it. Even with all the skills he acquired from the Abbey – how to lock and load more than ten types of guns, how to use his beyblade as a weapon, how to use _any _object as a weapon, how to make explosives, how to lie well – he never used it. The point was he ignored the issue hoping the deed would be reciprocated. Clearly it was too much to ask for. He felt like a deer in the woods minding his own business while being hounded down.

"So why are you up?"

Kai was grateful when she finally changed the topic, "Couldn't sleep,"

"Oh. Did you try drinking milk?" As she waited for a reply, she heard him chuckle, "What?"

She caught him narrowing his eyes down at her, a visible smirk playing on his lips, "What kind of milk?"

Evian took a deep breath and sighed. All men were perverted. There was just no getting past it. On the other hand, she very much enjoyed the dirty sense of humour. She tried to hide it though, biting down on her bottom lip and looking the other way. Whoever's been in this situation before knew that that was easier said than done. After giving in to the amusement, she suggested going back upstairs. But not before she walked into the hotel kitchen and requested one of the chefs for a few ingredients.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Kai unlocked his room, a little curious as to why Evian was following him inside. Ray and Enrique were already asleep, one of the two snoring somewhat.

The blonde kneeled down and pulled the mini fridge handle before getting out a carton of milk. Kai watched as she poured the contents in a cup before popping it into the microwave for less than a minute, "My mom used to make this for me and my brother when we were little," She whispered as she stirred in a few drops of vanilla extract, roughly half a teaspoon of sugar, and some nutmeg, "It helps you fall asleep," She sprinkled a pinch of the grounded spice on top and with the spoon still stuck inside, she handed him the cup.

Taking a sip he already knew the concoction was promising. His mother used to fix him a cup of warm milk before bed too sometimes to help him sleep well. But this was something else; the combination of flavours was calm and relaxing and as much as he hated to fess up to it...the truth was that this was better than his mom's plain old cup of warm milk. In fact, it was so delicious that he found himself tapping at the back of the cup to get the very last drop of it.

"Ready for sleep?"

Lowering the cup, the bluenette eyed the girl sitting beside him on the mattress, _with you?_ Nodding, he instinctively held the empty mug towards her and she took it, placing it on top of the microwave for lack of a better place. She came back though, straightened out his covers and motioned for him to lie down. After she pulled the sheet over him, Kai expected her to leave. Instead, she squat down on the floor and leaned against the night table, "I can't believe we're already going to Dallas tomorrow," He realized she wanted to stay and chat for a couple of minutes, her arms resting on the bed confirmed that further, "Aren't you scared?" She whispered.

"Of?"

Her eyes widened, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre guy! Hel-_lo_, Texas. All the creepy stuff happens in Texas,"

He looked at her as if she was an idiot, "It's a movie,"

"Yeah, based on a _true_ story,"

"It's not a true story. They just said that to get more viewers. It's a money making tactic," Kai rolled his eyes. Evian. Naive. It was starting to make more sense. Before the conversation could progress, he let out a yawn.

"Aw!" She admired, "That was cute," When she suddenly reached forward, he wondered what the hell she was doing. When she touched him, he still wondered what the hell she was doing. Not that he was complaining. Her fingers raking and tugging through his hair was perhaps one of the best feelings he'd felt to date. For once, he felt true comfort. No forgotten physics assignment to worry about, no girlfriend drama to worry about, no BBA tournament to worry about, hell even the danger that was lingering around them didn't bother him at that moment. There was only one thing he was supposed to do: go to sleep. But whatever she was doing was so simple and so nonsexual and it felt _so_ good that he found himself fighting to stay awake _just_ to relish the sensation longer. Evidently and obviously it had the opposite effect, putting him to sleep faster than a newborn. He didn't know how long she was there and he didn't know how long he managed to keep himself alert and he didn't know if the next scene was real or not.

Unfortunately for him, that was just a dirty dream involving Evian...but pleasurable nonetheless.

* * *

**Hey everyone. Sorry this chapter took SO ridiculously long. Honestly, I was stuck. I worked on the chapter everyday and I think I wrote like 5 different chapters before finalizing with this one. **

**In other news...I got fired! Fuck man. **

**And I'm having some friend trouble. I feel like we're all drifting apart; we all like different things and shit. It's so weird, I really hate it. Some of my friends have turned into super whores, some are SO boring it's not even funny, some just wanna go clubbing and get wasted every other day, one got married and now her husband is her life and she's completely weird (she took all her pics off Facebook b/c she doesn't want any other guy other than her husband seeing her...) and then there's a number of friends that just aren't friends with me anymore. It's so sad, honestly. I don't even know what to do. **

**Anyone else having this problem?**

**Anyways, thanks to...**

**zeratheliger**

**Lazy Chick**

**Regin**

**NeNe Productions – **I thought it was a BAD thing that my chapters were so long!! Honestly I was trying to make them shorter but after your review...never mind!! Thanks!

**Blood Tainted Angel – **HAHA! I told you I was trying to mush shit together!!!! Man now it's like diarrhoea (how the hell do you spell dia-ree-ah? They gave me like five diff spellings in the spell check...).

**just a girl **

**Crying Sorceress – **Dude...I'm still jealous over California...I'll never get over this! Until I move there. LOL!

**Waffles**

**Peroxxide Priincess – **NOT KNOW NO FRILLS!!! I WORKED THERE! LMAO!!! You from Toronto?! I worked there for a month before I quit...it was so gross!!! B/c you know how people buy meat...and it leaks...OMG!!!! Sorry to burst your bubble!!! Stick with Chapters or the horse barn! I work at Metro now (formerly known as Dominion) and this guy bought like a shit load of beef. OMFG! SOOOOOOOO GROSS! IT LEAKED ALL OVER THE PLACE!

**Aqua – **STAY IN SCHOOL!!! STAY IN SCHOOL AND DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!!!! Don't end up like me : (

**Fuurai**

**kstar orange**

**BornAtTheBreakOfDawn – **Yes I know things are happening fast!!! The Beyblade fandom is dying and it makes me sad! To make matters worse, a couple of weeks ago an author just left! She wrote a note on FanFic and everything!!! So I'm trying to hurry this up lol. And about the guy...NO OFFENCE BUT WHAT AN ASSHOLE! OMG! WHAT A SERIOUS DICK! And a library is so much better than a grocery store where I have to scan leaking meat...ew. And yeah I'm on a laptop right now...except that I was supposed to return this to my university MONTHS ago since they kicked me out : S

**erikamakino**

**StandUpEvenIfYouStandAlone – **Thanks SO much for reviewing some of the chapters!!! Very faithful of you! And I really like your username!!!


	33. Chapter 33

_Last name ever, first name greatest._

**DLS **_33_

Waking up from one of the best sleep of his life, the slate haired teen yawned as he looked around the messy hotel room. Immediately, Kai was annoyed; he did not even want to _think _about the clutter he had to clean up before they left for Dallas. Ray and Enrique were already awake but still in their PJs, the two of them scrambling to pack up their things.

Making brief eye contact with the Italian, Kai caught him smirking at him. Not a genuine 'good morning' kind though. There was something a little _off_ about the way he did it. Giving the blonde a strange look, the vice captain physically got off his bed and headed for the washroom.

He stopped midway however when he realized the muddle of clothes on his side of the room had vanished. Furrowing his brows, he kneeled down to one of his luggages and unzipped it open only to find all his things already packed for him. "What the f..." He muttered as he undid his other suitcases, the same case holding for them as well. It was _so_ neat; he'd never seen anything like it before. When Hilary came over sometimes, she helped him clean up. But _this_ was some next level of 'clean up'. Tops and bottoms was the first division. All his jeans were then categorized according to brand, colour, _and_ wash. T-shirts were separated from polos, zip-up hoodies split from pullovers, Henleys from shirts, everything colour coordinated, style synchronized, and other groupings that he never knew existed.

Had Tala done this for him? The question was valid. As much of a guy-ish guy Tala was, he was extremely tidy. His bed was always made, his clothes were always folded up, and his socks were never just lying around. Still though, even this was too much for the redhead. He was _organized_, not a complete perfectionist. That, and the fact that he wasn't even here.

He looked over his shoulder and watched the baby blonde dump a handful of clothes into his suitcase. _Not Enrique_, Kai ruled out. And it wasn't Ray either. There was an evident girly touch to the way his stuff were packed...but not Hilary's touch. It couldn't be Mariah; she'd never touch his boxers and briefs. At this point Evian seemed to be the obvious choice but he knew it wasn't her either. She was a messy girl and always got Tala to help during packing.

Sighing, the dual haired vice captain continued to the washroom. He emerged some time later, a towel draped over his blue bed head like a nun. Before he could take a step further, he was startled by Enrique, the identical smirk marked on his lips once again, "Sleep well?" He finally asked, though in an unusually quiet voice.

Kai narrowed his eyes at his teammate. It was an odd question to ask. Unless...

"A hot piece of ass babying you to sleep; must be nice," Enrique continued, verifying to Kai at the same time that he'd seen everything last night. He was so sure Ray and Enrique were asleep when Evian was in the room. But Enrique saw. He saw her in the room, he saw her with him, he saw _everything_. The thing was Kai didn't think what she did was that big of a deal. She hadn't done anything _wrong_. But if Hilary found out that would be an entirely different story he did _not_ want to deal with at all. Kai quickly opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the blonde, "Don't worry, Ray doesn't know," As the bluenette raised a brow, Enrique added, "Neither does anyone else,"

Kai was relieved. But only temporarily. He looked beyond the blonde to find Ray sitting on the edge of the mattress, too busy watching something on television, "If Hilary finds out about this," He eyed Enrique, "I'll know who told her," He threatened.

The other teen chuckled, "Well it ain't gonna be from me. But I just thought I'd tell you to be careful,"

And that was the beauty about being a guy and having guy friends; no matter what you did in front of them, no matter what they knew about you, it didn't even matter if you fucked another bitch whilst being in a relationship...men knew how to keep their mouths shut.

By the time Tala and Mr. MaCaffery came back, there was barely enough time for breakfast. Everyone grabbed what they could; Mariah opting for a banana, Hilary waiting until lunch, Ray and Enrique sticking with a taco with extra beef, Kai unwillingly having a few sliced apples his step sister had offered, and all three MaCaffery family members sharing a one litre carton of chocolate milk with Evian complaining over the fact that Tala got more and Tala complaining about Evian's disgusting straw biting habit

"Does everyone have their train tickets?" Brandon enquired inside the van. A few mumbled their responses while some of the others waved their leaflets around. His gaze rested on his daughter for a brief second; she seemed a little troubled, furiously examining the ticket, reading the fine print on it.

"Train?" She repeated, "Why are we taking the train? Why aren't we flying there?"

"L.A. to Dallas; it's so close by that flying there isn't worth the money,"

She furrowed her brows, "But why? A train is dangerous,"

"Blondie's scared of taking a train! Ha!"

"Daddy! Tell him to shut up!"

Brandon gave his son a stern look, "Stop bothering your sister. Anyways, there's nothing to be afraid of. Trains are safe just as much as airplanes are. You've never taken a train before; I think you'll like it,"

"But what if we die?"

"Frig, don't say that," Enrique remarked with a slight shudder.

"Can we take a plane instead?"

The brown haired man chuckled, "Of course not, we already got our tickets and they're non refundable," His daughter crossed her arms and slumped into her seat, her ticket still in her hands. It was when they got to the station and killed time in the waiting area that the blonde approached her brother.

"Can you _please_ ask dad if we could just fly there?"

The redhead gave his other half a funny look, "Why?"

"I don't wanna take the train. He'll listen to you, he always does,"

"Why are you so damn scared? It's a _train_. You take the subway from Kennedy to Young and Bloor in Toronto all the time. It's the same thing,"

"Please?"

"_Why_?" Tala couldn't understand what the big deal was with a train. Who the heck was scared of a train? Besides, he knew Evian was scared of only five things: monsters in her closet, needles, bugs, gaining as much weight as Kristie Allie, and getting split ends in her hair.

She smiled suddenly and pulled him into a random hug, "I'm just playin'!"

"Queer," The redhead rolled his eyes before going back to texting Dakota. All the times she called while he was at the hospitals, he'd ignored. He made up a lie telling her that his phone was dead and that's why he couldn't keep in touch with her. She seemed pretty worried and he felt slightly guilty for leaving her in the dark. But she found it quite amusing to know he'd gotten 'food poisoning' from eating fries off the ground.

"Alright," Mr. MaCaffery called for the team's attention after some time, "Train's here, get your tickets out, let's go everyone,"

Standing up, Tala reached for the back of his jean pocket where his ticket had been sticking out. Finding nothing there, he dropped his bag and checked all his other pockets, "Fuck," He mumbled, tearing open his sister's purse to see if it was in there, "I can't find it," He confessed finally.

"What do you mean you can't find it?" Ray made a face, "Come on, man,"

As stupid as it was, the redhead took off his shoes and checked in there as well before overhearing a conversation between his father and sister not too far away.

"I don't know where it went, daddy,"

"Evian, your ticket didn't _went_ anywhere, okay? It doesn't have feet. Now find it or we're all going to leave without you!" The man scolded his daughter in exasperation before marching off to the receptionist to see anything could be done about the situation.

The redhead finally stopped searching for his 'missing' ticket, "Bitch," He muttered before walking up to the blonde, "Give it back, retard!"

"Give what back?"

"My fucking ticket!"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't have your ticket. I don't even have mine,"

The younger twin shoved his other half, "Evian, I know you took it!" She wasn't just _playin'_! That was no random hug! She nicked the damn thing right off him! "We're gonna miss the friggin' train! What the hell is your problem? This isn't fucking fun -" He paused as Hilary casually stopped by, "What!" He snapped unintentionally.

"Looking for these?" The brunette held in her hands something ripped and crumpled, "Found them in the trash,"

"Holy shit," Tala grabbed the pieces of torn up paper that used to be his and his sister's train tickets, ignoring the fact that some parts were covered in disgusting juice and yogurt and only God knew what else. Putting them together as best as he could, he gave the blonde a dirty look.

Evian shrunk back slightly, her face flushing as she was caught red handed in her own propaganda. Even as Tala walked away, Hilary remained in her position right next to the blonde, arms crossed, one knee stuck forward. Evian raised her head only to catch a glimpse of the brunette sneering at her before she, too, strolled off.

Smirking, Hilary shook her head and reached for her bags that were on the chairs, "She's such an idiot," She verbalized to the slate haired teen. But one look at him and Hilary quickly noticed disappointment evident on his features, "What?"

"You tell me," He folded his arms over his chest and looked away, "Was that necessary?"

"Tala was looking for his ticket. I just did your friend a favour,"

"At someone else's expense?"

"Why are you supporting what that skank did? She _stole_ his ticket and threw it away. I saw her do it,"

"So did I. So did Mariah," He motioned his head towards the pinkette who was currently preoccupied in a discussion with Enrique.

"Kai, you know I did the right thing. Otherwise we would have all missed the train,"

Kai nodded, "You did the right thing," He grabbed his bags and stood up, "But I know you had other reasons for doing it. And that's a turnoff," As the brunette stayed put, shell shocked by her boyfriend's words, he simply strolled off, casually engaging himself in a conversation with Ray.

It wasn't long before Mr. MaCaffery managed to get a new printout of tickets for his children before the team boarded the train. Pissed off by the stupid and messed up thing his sister had done, Tala still didn't rat her out. That would break the sibling code...

...even though that sibling code was broken several times before.

He sighed and glanced over at her. A _Teen Vogue_ magazine was spread open on her lap, a Jay Sean track audible from her earphones. "Stop looking at me," She muttered as she flipped the page. Chuckling, he tugged off one of her earphones, "Stop!" She shrieked, rolling up the magazine and hitting him on the head with it a couple of times, "You're so effing annoying!" She made a noise of frustration before opening up the now crinkled magazine.

"I'm so fucking bored,"

"Go talk to Dakota,"

"My thumbs hurt from texting her,"

The blonde tossed her Blackberry over to him, "Go watch porn. Don't go through my messages,"

"Porn?" He picked up the phone, "So that's what you do on your phone all the time..." Her comeback to that was stomping on his foot, "So you scared of trains?"

"No," She denied.

"Then?"

She wrinkled her nose and then her features softened, "I had a dream a couple of days ago," She whispered, "Like a scary one," She continued, "We were all on the train and then we were gonna crash into some other train," As she finished, she anticipated sympathy in the form of a hug, a pat on the head, a kiss on the cheek, or even an 'awww'...though the last one was highly unlikely. Instead, she heard laughter from the redhead, the LMFAO sort of laughter. She resorted to using the magazine as a weapon once again, "Would you stop!" It was times like these Evian wished she had a sister. Girls took things seriously. Guys didn't.

"You didn't wanna get on this train because of a _dream_?" He burst into another round of laughter, "Seriously!"

She snatched her phone back, "You're not getting this," She dangled her iPod, "Or this,"

"Your loss,"

Evian gave the redhead a pathetic look, "That didn't even make sense,"

"Shut yo bitch ass mouth, Blondie,"

The older twin only rolled her eyes at her brother's immaturity. She considered telling him about the carnival – about how she had dreamt it up – but after his reaction to this, she quickly decided against saying _anything_. He'd call her crazy! And she could understand why! She'd call someone crazy too if they came up to her and told her their dreams came true. No pun intended. Besides, she'd seen movies – like Final Destination – and the people who claimed they could see into the future were treated like the mentally insane! She did _not_ want to be treated that way.

And anyway, her dream must have just been coincidence. Kai, the _Brain_, had said so himself: no one could see into the future. It was bullshit. He was so smart, he could never be wrong. Evian believed him wholeheartedly. Backed up by science or not, any and everything that came out of his mouth, she accepted as the truth.

"Hey Evian?"

Snapping back to reality, the blonde turned to her brother, "Yeah?"

"He hit you...that guy..."

"So?"

"Don't act like it wasn't a big deal. I saw, okay? I saw what he did to you..."

"I saw what he did to you too,"

"Yeah but he did that to you because of me,"

"And he did that to you because of me too. I'm the one who fell,"

"How come you didn't leave?"

"Why didn't you?"

"Why won't you just say it as it is? I'd feel less confused that way,"

She couldn't just say it as it was. That's because it wasn't the way _he_ thought it was. It wasn't his fault. She realized at that point that it technically wasn't her fault either. _But_...as the older sibling, she had a certain responsibility, he didn't. That's where things diverged. Even if things were his fault, he had the excuse of being younger than her. She didn't.

And that was why, even though she wasn't to blame, she still felt accountable. She took care of all the bullies that bothered him when he was younger, she took care of ex girlfriends that harassed him, she took care of Donnelley, but it killed her to know that when it all came down to it, when it really, really, really mattered...she couldn't do a thing about it. _No_ one would touch her brother. That was her rule. And it made her _so_ mad to know that after all these years she'd let some asshole break that rule. She wished she could get another chance to face that guy, for revenge, to teach him a lesson, to make sure he or anyone else _never _messed with Tala. She wanted to strangle that guy until the blood vessels in his eyeballs burst. She wanted to take a pair of pliers and...

"Would you two like anything to drink?" A server came by, once again resulting in an interruption to the blonde's thoughts.

The redhead slyly looked behind his seat before making an order in a quiet voice, "Budweiser? In a glass please. Not a see-through one,"

The female server narrowed her eyes, "Aren't you from that Canadian team?"

"Maybe,"

"So aren't you only seventeen?"

"Hell no, I'm 21,"

The server frowned, "May I see some ID please?"

"Dammit!"

As the woman rolled her eyes and proceeded on to the next seats, Evian wrinkled her nose, "Why didn't you just show her your fake?"

"And get it confiscated? Yeah, okay! She was already onto me. Bitch needs to get laid," He paused and smirked at his sister, "Or buy herself a pickle bread,"

"Tala, you're disgusting,"

From the seat in front of them, Kai poked his head from the side of his seat, "What the hell is pickle bread?"

The redhead laughed before elbowing his sister, hinting her to pay attention, "Hey Kai, do you use a pickle bread?"

The lost look on the auburn eyed teen was comical, "The fuck is that?"

"Just tell me, do you use one or no?"

"...no..." It seemed like the safest answer especially by the way Evian was acting; head turned towards the window in dismay, the signature and frequently used 'Tala is a moron' expression on her face.

Tala quickly pulled a serious face, "Really Kai? You don't use a pickle bread? Seriously man?"

"What is it?" The slate haired teen enquired again.

Evian breathed a sigh in prepared to kill the curiosity, "It's a dildo,"

Appalled, the vice captain shifted his gaze from the blonde to the redhead and then back to Evian, "What?"

"Dill, as in pickle," The blonde decoded, "And dough, as in bread, so dill-dough, get it? Pickle bread? Dill-dough?"

"Tala, you sick fuck," Kai rolled his eyes at the redhead, "Stop teaching her that kind of shit,"

The team captain cracked up, "You think _I_ taught her that? I swear I'm gonna crap my pants from laughing,"

Disbelieving, the slate haired teen turned back in his seat...only to recite the joke back to Ray and Enrique. The rest of the train ride appeared to go smoothly but boring; so boring that Tala found himself going through his sister's _Teen Vogue_. He was rather intrigued by the magazine, mainly by what females perceived as fashionable. Really now...gladiator sandals? They reminded him of big old sweaty men rolling around in dirt fighting and the someone yelling _This is Sparta!_ in the background.

A few short hours later, the team found themselves in the state of Texas and after checking into a nearby hotel, some teammates fell asleep, some watched TV, and some went out for a swim in the outdoor pool and before they knew it, dinner time had rolled by.

"Here," Brandon started as he shuffled through his wallet and pulled out a few twenties, shoving them to the redhead, "Go out for dinner today,"

"Aren't you coming?" Tala raised a brow.

"I'll get something from the hotel later on," The brown haired man explained as he prepared for his exit from the boys' room, "Be back in time for training," And with that, he was gone.

"So what's around here?" Asked Enrique as he lazily plopped down on the bed he'd claimed for himself, "I'm feeling pizza,"

Ray looked in between the blinds and out the window, "There's a Pizza Hut down there,"

And thus dinner plans were made. The girls were told to get ready ASAP. ASAP in guy world meant 30 seconds. ASAP in girl world meant 30 minutes. Well that didn't exactly include Miss Low Maintenance, Hilary, who remained clothed in her tee and jeans she'd worn from California.

"This tank top with these jeans with this cardigan with these heels?" Evian pointed at herself as she emerged from the washroom, "Yes? No? Maybe? Hot? Not?" She looked down at herself before eyeing the others for opinions.

Black skinnies, a white tank top with a skinny tan leather belt around the waist, a grey cardigan with the sleeves pulled up very slightly, and of course red-soled black peep toe pumps that made her as tall as her brother and tower over Hilary and Mariah. As for her hair, her bangs were braided and pinned to the side with a bobby pin.

That was the thing about Evian that Kai had noticed from the beginning: she _always_ looked good. The first day he came over to her house to watch the game with her brother, everyday at school, even during goddamn training. She never had a 'sweatpants' day. It wasn't even like she tried hard to achieve it; she could put on the ugliest thing and make it work. She was just appealing no matter what and looking at her was a guilty pleasure of his and personally, he'd rather have her take off everything _except _those sexy heels. But he could understand why that wouldn't be a possibility...for now.

"We are going out for _pizza_, not a fashion show," Tala rolled his eyes.

"Fashion show..." She repeated, "So I look good! Thanks!" She grinned, "So what purse?"

"Why the hell do you need a purse? We're going to friggin' Pizza Hut!"

"Hello? Lip gloss, MasterCard, Blackberry?" _Cigs! Lighter! Emergency pad!_

"Hello your face! Pockets!" Tala pulled out the bunny ears from his jeans. Annoyed, he grabbed a random red cross-body purse from his sister's pile of things, tossed it to her, and pushed her out of the room while everyone else followed.

What should have taken them one third of a minute to get to the restaurant ended up taking them twenty minutes thanks to paparazzi. A few curses were heard amongst the teams and hands were used as shields to avoid being blinded by the flashes.

"Tala! How much does your sister weigh?"

"Why does her weight matter?" The team captain pushed through the herd in a desperate attempt to get away.

"Evian! How much do you weigh?"

"How come Tala wasn't at the battle yesterday?"

"Kai, how do you feel about Evian ditching you for Enrique?"

"Tala! How do you feel about your sister's breast augmentation?"

"What the fuck?" The redhead creased his brows at the inappropriate enquiry.

"Are you and Dakota Murphy official yet?"

"Why the hell do you care?" The redhead couldn't understand what was so goddamn interesting about him. He was an average high school student from an average city who lived in an average house with an average family who drove an average car! Hell, they were making _less_ than what was considered the average annual income in Torontonian household! Eviction notices in the mail, power and hydro being cut a couple of times a year because bills were not paid off, cell phone lines being suspended for the same reason – that's the kind of family he came from, that's what he was used to. He just really couldn't understand how he could go from _that_ to having TMZ following him.

"Fucking rape-age," Kai commented in exasperation before finally slipping into the restaurant. Essentially, that's what it was. Apart from him and an extremely appalled Tala, Evian seemed to get 'raped' the most. Questions about her weight, her diet, the nonexistent men in her life, her hair, her clothes, completely out of line questions about her brother and Dakota, her thoughts on Miley Cyrus's new music video...they were endless.

"Shit man," The redhead piled into the booth beside his sister, "This is getting really retarded. I couldn't even see where I was going. Those fuckers were all up in my face,"

"What's so great about us anyway?" Mariah picked up one of the menus lying on the table, "No offence but we're not even American and everyone knows that American teams usually get the most attention in the entire tournament. Anyways," She sighed, "What are we getting?"

They settled with three pizzas, the guys devouring two of them like pigs while the girls stuck with one. It was when Tala put the cash down on the table cuing they were done and ready to leave when their server came by, placing a square dessert plate on the table right in front of the blonde. There was a decadent slice of chocolate cake to one side and a heart made out of strawberry sauce on the other side of the plate, a silver spoon situated on the corner.

Evian looked at the waiter, "Uh, I didn't order this..."

"Yeah," He seemed to agree with her, "Some guy named Pierre told me to send it over to you,"

Emerald orbs widened, "Really! Where? He's in here?"

"Some table down there," The waiter pointed out before taking off leaving behind a madly smiling blonde, her eyes scanning the massive restaurant for the Frenchmen.

From the opposite side of the table, Kai watched the blonde exhibit that signature flirty grin, "Holy effing shit! He's right over there!" She turned to the redhead, "Can we stay a little longer? Please, please, please?"

"Fine. Go say hi," The vice captain was mildly shocked by the approval from Tala, and after asking if she looked fine – and if her butt looked okay – the blonde sprinted off to her crush.

The bluenette eyed his companion, "In case you're forgetting, we have training,"

"Yeah, _we_ have training, not her," The redhead said casually as he pulled the plate of cake towards him and spooned out a piece, "She never does anything, it's always me. That's how it is and that's how it's going to be,"

"Then what about our battles?"

"I'll just have to train more to even things out for us,"

"But," The pink haired girl rested her chin on the table, "Isn't that just going to stress you out more? It'll be like facing two people,"

"If you haven't noticed already, that's what I've been doing since the beginning of this tournament. Who cares? I can handle it,"

While the rest of the team continued with their chit chat, Kai was disengaged by a couple of text messages on his phone: _u should sit w/ us._ It was from Evian. The message was surprising in itself but he was more curious as to what possessed her to say such a thing to him. When he asked why, he was hit with a fast reply: _ur dads asking about u._ The disgusted look on the vice captain's face was apparent. He didn't want to be within a mile of that man and here he was in the same room as the fucker? The fact that he even had his DNA was enough to make him gag.

"I'll see you guys back at the hotel," He pushed away from the table and left before anyone could even protest. Knowing Hilary would follow, he purposely entered a random store and veiled himself in between aisles. Questions were something Kai didn't feel like facing right now. All he wanted to do was get rid of Jullien Hiwatari from his head. But the more he tried to lose the image, the more they were forced on him.

The both of them yelling in front of him while he hid under the kitchen table and covered his ears. The sound of vases and other things in the house being broken. The departure. And the second marriage resulting in a form of closure he didn't approve of.

Fed up, he trekked into a certain section, thankful the store even had the section and picked up the desired item before making his way to the checkout.

"That all for today?" Asked the cashier as she scanned the item and shoved it into a bag.

The slate haired teen nodded, holding out a card in the process, "Visa."

Back at Pizza Hut, nearly forty minutes had gone by and the team captain finally pulled his sister away from her current infatuation. Well, he was trying to. The redhead waited impatiently at the door and wrinkled his nose as he watched the blonde giggle those girly 'I like you' giggles a few times. Out of all the guys she'd stumbled across she was most interested in Pierre, but still, Tala was able to see that _something_ was missing. At last she got up, the gesture being reciprocated by the older boy and he walked with her to the exit.

Standing next to the blonde with one arm over her shoulder, Pierre appeared to want to make small talk with the redhead for obvious reasons, "So you guys in Texas for a while?"

"Yeah, got here today," The redhead replied, "Anyways, we gotta go for training,"

"Alright," Nodded the nineteen year old and took the cue to quickly plant a smooch on the side of the blonde's face to which the redhead wasn't very pleased with, "Lunch tomorrow?"

Evian carried a slightly blank, slightly uncertain look on her face as she looked over at Tala discreetly, "Actually, I think I'm a little busy tomorrow with this thing that I have to, like, do. It's like this super important thing and I have to do it or else...I'll die..."

The redhead narrowed his eyes at the fool that was supposedly related to him. And it took every ounce of him to erupt into laughter that he was so desperately holding back. Yeah she was following his advice on how to deal with a guy she liked but she wasn't doing the best job – and this was the easiest part too. It was when he felt an excruciating pinch on his bum that he took over quickly, "She'll _die_," He took the chance to pinch her back as hard as he could and he could see her bite her lip in pain but force a smile anyway as if nothing was going on behind their backs, "if she misses this beyblading seminar my dad signed us up for tomorrow. And he already paid for it so she has to be there,"

"Okay, another time then," Pierre remarked in understanding before giving the redhead a smile, "Nice bumping into you guys,"

"Yeah man," Tala gave a nonchalant wave before following the rest of his team out of the restaurant.

"Kiss number two," Evian held out two fingers teasingly, "How many did Dakota give you?"

Tala shook his head, "Those kisses don't count. We're both at zero,"

"_You're_ at zero," She lightly kicked him in the butt, "Loser," Then she smiled, shyly picking at her purse strap, "He wanted to take me out tomorrow. I really wanted to say yes!"

"You did the right thing, trust me. But he won't call you. He already did the chasing so now he's gonna wait for you so you'll have to call him first and then he'll ask you out again. That's when you say yes,"

"So...do I call him now?"

"No you blonde moron, you call him tomorrow _after_ lunch,"

By the time they got to the hotel, Kai was already in the training room along with Mr. MaCaffery. "Hurry up everyone," Brandon ushered the team in, "We're gonna do what we did last time: everyone for themselves, one dish,"

As everyone readied their beyblades, the blonde chuckled, muttering a 'seriously?' under her breath, audible enough for Mariah and Tala to hear who stood on either side of her. Enrique joined in as well for the hell of it; it beat being bored and having nothing to do. Once the signal was given, seven beyblades dropped into the dish, new alliances forming, some for themselves, some tricking others into loss.

There was no surprise when the first beyblade to be knocked out of the dish like the last time was the transparent one, a powerful hit from Hilary's red one resulting in its' quick failure. Nonetheless, her victory didn't last for even a second as the team captain appeared to take some sort of revenge for his sister, sending the red beyblade catapulting in defeat.

The blonde laughed out loud just to rub it in, slapping her brother's back in appreciation, "Nice, man!" The battle continued, an obvious collaboration having been made between Ray, Mariah, and Enrique just to get rid of the team's strongest links.

Grinning, the pink haired girl took the authority to go after her step brother but was surprised when her attacks were actually causing damage. Mariah looked across the dish, her golden almond shaped eyes settling on Kai. She furrowed her eyebrows when she picked up on something that was very odd about him. He looked tired, a little distracted, and his face was somewhat flushed. He swayed once and blinked a couple of times, validating her assumption.

Seeing the defenceless blue beyblade, Enrique decided to take advantage, as did Ray, both of them attacking Dranzer into its' surprising downfall. Tala scrunched up his face, throwing the vice captain a weird look before shaking his head and concentrating on the rest of the battle.

"Need to use the washroom," Kai had excused himself. Beyblade in hand, he walked to the door, pulled it open and _boom_! He thumped his head on the side of the door and with the noise that followed, it was obvious it was a hard hit. Holding his head in pain, he managed to stumble out of the room as quickly as possible leaving just about everyone in the training room awestruck.

Wide eyed, Mariah called back her beyblade, ready to go after him but was stopped by Mr. MaCaffery, "I'll go see if he's okay,"

She rejected quickly, "He's very self-conscious like that," It was a good enough lie; she couldn't let their coach find about the _state_ he was in. He'd get in so much shit, "I should go,"

"Alright," The brown haired man granted permission, "Let me know if you need any help," And when Hilary made a move to go as well, he added, "Mariah's with him, he'll be fine. I don't want anyone else leaving the room,"

The game in the dish continued but instead of concentrating on it, Tala watched his sister from the corner of his eyes wondering why she was fiddling around with her ripcord behind her back. He took a step back unnoticeably to try to get a better understanding of what she was doing and was a little surprised when she purposely snapped the pink ripcord in half.

"Daddy?" She held up the two pieces, "It broke,"

"Oh, Evian," The brown haired man shook his head, "Go upstairs, get your spare,"

"Okay," She tossed the damaged pieces in the trash and once she stepped out of the room, she smirked; that was way too easy. Racing down the corridors she tried to figure out where Mariah had gone. She could hear her voice at the other end of the hallway, her vice captain's mumbling as well and within seconds, Evian had tracked them down. From the looks of it, Mariah must have confronted him about something and he didn't really like it, trying to move away from the girl but she didn't let him.

"Is he okay?" Evian piped in.

Mariah gasped, "Oh, it's only you. I thought it was your dad,"

"Now she's here!" Kai shouted, shoving Mariah's hand away from him, "Fuck you guys! Get lost!" The blonde was taken aback by his aggressive behaviour. He just looked plain annoyed and frustrated...and sloppy?

"I need to get you upstairs," Mariah argued, "If Evian's dad finds out about you, you're gonna get into a lot of trouble,"

"Why are you so scared of my dad?"

"Because," The pink haired girl forcefully pulled Kai the other way, "He's frikkin' drunk," But when the blonde seemed doubtful over the proclamation, Mariah tried to persuade, "_Look_ at him," Evian did, the temporary 'sloppy' trait making sense to her. She was startled when the bluenette approached her out of the blue, grabbed her by the shoulders and proceeded to yell in her face.

"What did my dad say? What did he tell you?"

"Uh, nothing. Just asked how you were and stuff," She shrugged her shoulders, "That's why I asked you to come but you ignored my texts,"

He shook her absentmindedly, nearly losing his balance in the process, "What else did he say?"

"Well," She called Mariah over without letting Kai know, "He asked if you were still on the basketball team," With the pink haired girl's aid and with the easy mode of diversion used by the blonde, the trio began moving out of the corridors and into the hotel lobby.

"You're lying. How can he know about me bein' on the basketball team? Mom doesn't talk to him. Neither do I. No one talks to that cunt licking muh'fucker," He paused, "And neither does mom,"

His repeat of words indicated to the two just how intoxicated he was. How he even managed to launch his damn beyblade _into _the dish was beyond them. At least it wasn't as bad as the last time Evian had seen him; that was just plain scary. Nonetheless, she continued, "I don't know how he knows,"

"Did you tell him? You told him. Why would you tell him about me? Tell me everything he said to you,"

Mariah only rolled her eyes in irritation as she got into the elevator and pushed the button for their floor, "Why would you drink when you know we have training? What if Mr. MaCaffery found out? You're really stupid, Kai,"

"So?" He furrowed his brows before looking back at the blonde, "He say anything else? Why was that son of a bitch talking to you? Fucking piece of shit, fucking..." Curse words continue to fly out of his mouth and they were _so _foul, Evian didn't even understand the meaning of half the words.

"Where's your key?" Asked the pinkette once in front of the guys' door.

"I feel fine," He tried to stroll off to the opposite direction.

"Stop it," Mariah scolded, holding him tightly with one hand and looking for the room key with the other.

But he tried to pull his hand away, "I have to go train, I'm vice captain, I have to be there and train,"

The Chinese blader unlocked the door after she found the key card in his wallet, ignoring the rest of her step brother's protests. She shoved him inside first then let Evian in before going inside herself, locking the door behind her.

"Why the fuck won't you let me train?"

The blonde made a face at the ridiculous enquiry, "You're the best player on this team and Ray and Enrique beat you in like five seconds. That is like _so_ messed up," She flailed her arms and looked up at the ceiling for emphasis, "And you don't need that much training anyway, you're really good," He remained seated on the side of his bed, appearing considerably angry as he looked away from her and Mariah and towards the carpeted floor defiantly. It was when he suddenly rubbed his temple that Evian remembered what happened with the door. She stooped down and brushed away his slate bangs, "It's not _that_ bad," She commented, though there was a small cut. Holding a pack of ice, Mariah plopped down beside him.

Once the cold remedy had done its job, the blonde rummaged around her purse before pulling something out. It looked like a very small piece of paper at first and she tore it open. Pushing some of his hair away with one hand, she carefully placed what appeared to be a band aid on the cut and swept his hair back in place. She – as well as Mariah – thought it was pretty damn unnecessary to let him know that the pink Hello Kitty band aid was fully visible through his strands. Taking out a water bottle from the mini fridge and unscrewing the cap, she handed it over to him and after a few sips, he gave it back to her. Examining the bottle, Evian looked at her vice captain like he was an alien, "What are you, Kai? A cockroach?" She complained, "Come on, drink more or you'll be dehydrated," She ordered and after he grumbled some more profanities, he eventually did as he was told.

"Lie down," Mariah said as she moved away.

"I'm not tired," The pink haired girl pushed him anyway and his actions contradicted himself. His eyes began to droop within a couple of minutes of lying down, "I'm not going to sleep," He mumbled and Mariah only nodded in compromise even though the outcome of the situation was obvious.

Evian switched off the lights and both girls carefully tiptoed out of the room and let out sighs of utter, utter, utter relief.

"That was a mission," Mariah declared, wiping her forehead as if she was sweating.

The blonde nodded, and then, "You really care about him,"

"Well he _is_ my brother, I mean not by blood, but he's still family,"

"Yeah," And after finding a spare ripcord, Evian and Mariah made it back to practice. After two hours when the session came to an end, everyone split up to their rightful rooms to get some sleep.

"Hold on, Evian," Mr. MaCaffery called his daughter back, "I have to talk to you," He waited as she stepped away from the door and strolled towards him, "What happened to Kai?"

"He said he felt sick," The blonde recapped all over again to her father, not entirely sure why he was asking her for a second time, "So we thought he should sleep it off,"

The brown haired man nodded as if he understood before making eye contact with his daughter, "How much did he have to drink?" Immediately from the other side of the room, Tala shot his family members a look; while his father appeared relatively unsmiling, Evian seemed slightly uncertain.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," She finally verbalized.

Brandon sighed, unfolding his arms as he did, a gesture that the twins figured out meant that he wasn't mad, "I know he's been drinking. I don't know why, I'm not going to ask him why, neither will he know that I know that he was under the influence," At this, Tala continued to watch the scene develop and Evian only fiddled with her fingers nervously, "He's a very good boy from what I've seen so far, he comes from a respectable family, and you and Tala always tell me how great of a student he is. I just think you should keep an eye on him and if something seems off, you need to come tell me,"

"Well sometimes I try," Evian started and Brandon immediately bobbed his head to show her he was listening, "But every time I even talk to him, Hilary has a problem,"

"I've noticed," Mr. MaCaffery rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "See Evian, sometimes when you're in a relationship, there are rules that need to be followed and not all rules are good rules. I can see why Hilary may feel threatened by you. You're a very beautiful girl," He ruffled his daughter's hair affectionately, "And guys are going to look at you whether they are or aren't single, so you being around a boy who already as a girlfriend is a threat in itself,"

Evian smiled, "Thanks, dad,"

"So you can still watch over Kai as a friend, you just have to be a little subtle about it. But keep in mind that everyone likes to look at something that looks really good, Evian, and men are known to have wandering eyes," To signify her understanding, she nodded her head, although vaguely, "Alright Evian, time for bed,"

At this, the blonde immediately raised her head and pointed towards the redhead, "How come he doesn't have to go to bed?"

"Unless you want to train extra like him, it's bedtime for you,"

Defeated, the blonde went upstairs and got ready for bed while the redhead continued to train a while longer. Not only was it building confidence for future battles but it also took his mind off things he didn't necessarily want to think about. Midnight marked the third hour and that's when he realized he wasn't Superman and needed to get sleep just like everyone else. Sinking into the mattress, he closed his eyes instantly and just as slumber was about to consume him, he was positive he could hear his phone vibrate on the side table. Groaning, he reached for it, surprised that it was a text message. After all, he and Dakota had already exchanged goodnight's a couple of minutes ago. Hitting the 'view' button, he took in the fact that it was actually from Evian: _hey asshole u awake?_ Using one hand to text, he sent the blonde a reply: _in bed waddup?_ And it didn't take long at all for her to send him a response:_ open the door!_

Wondering why, he lazily made his way out of his bed and unlocked the door, raising a quizzical brow at the blonde who stood there, Blackberry in one hand, hug pillow in the other. "I'm sleeping here," She pushed him aside and walked in.

"Evian, get out. I'm tired as fuck,"

Nonetheless, she jogged over to his bed and plopped down on one side, "Shut up,"

"I'm being serious. I'm really tired, okay? I just wanna go to sleep,"

"I'm tired too," He could tell she wasn't lying; she looked pretty dead beat throughout the day and he knew she hadn't gotten sufficient sleep the night before, "And I'm scared," She added as he gave in and claimed the other half of the bed.

"Of what?" The redhead whispered.

"I'm scared that guy's gonna kill me in my sleep. If I close my eyes he might sneak up on me,"

Recognizing that her fear wasn't an irrational one this time, he felt sorry for her. She appeared genuinely afraid and from the looks of it, she'd been losing sleep over it. He was too, perhaps not as much as her, but it was still affecting him. Pulling on a tough act, he rolled his eyes, "No one's gonna kill you while you're sleeping, Evian," He turned the other way, one hand tucked under his head. To his annoyance, he felt his sister tug at his t-shirt, forcefully turning him back to face her, "What!"

"Don't fall asleep before me!"

"Stop being a fucking baby. I just got out of the hospital this morning and I trained for three hours so I _really_ need some sleep,"

"Yes, but what if he comes to this room? And if he sees that I'm awake, he's gonna kill me first. I don't want that,"

"No one's gonna come into this room, I promise,"

She let out a deep breath, "Tala, I don't wanna die,"

"You won't die, I won't let that happen,"

"What if you die?"

"Ev, no one's going to die. Stop thinking like that,"

"I really thought he was going to kill me," Evian went on, "But you know something? I didn't see my life flash before me or anything,"

Tala sighed, "Neither did I,"

"Then?"

"I don't know," He shrugged before staring up at the ceiling for some time and then turning back to the blonde, "I thought about things I wanted to do but didn't get the chance to do yet,"

"Like what?"

"Like finish school, get a new car since the Corolla was written off, stupid stuff like that," There was silence for some time and he was sure it was the end of their conversation but his ears picked up on a beeping noise. He watched his sister grab her Blackberry and then grinning at something. Instinctively, he moved closer and eyed the message on the screen from Pierre: _143 baby._

"Aw! Isn't that cute?"

The redhead made a face, "He just said he loves you..."

"I know! It's cute. I'm gonna say it too!"

He yanked the phone out of her hands, "Don't. Did he say that before?"

"Yeah, he always texts me 'I love you's,"

"You know that's weird, right?"

"You're just jealous someone loves me and not you,"

"Seriously Evian. He's not supposed to say that to you yet. And neither are you,"

"But I like him,"

"Do you love him?"

"Like and love are the same thing!"

"No they're not,"

Evian rolled her eyes, "Tala, they're the same. I like and love you, I like and love mom and dad, I like and love Miriam and Evelyn, I like and love my hair, I like and love Shia LaBeouf,"

He was quick to pick up on her misjudgement, "How can you like and love me and then like and love that Transformers guy? That doesn't make any sense. That's just weird and creepy,"

"You don't have to love things the _same _way. I love my hair because it's soft, I love you because mom and dad force me, I love Shia because when I look at half naked pics of him on Google I feel good and I wanna be the mother of his kids,"

"...I didn't need to know that," The redhead shuddered, "But anyways, they're not the same thing,"

"Stop making the English language complicated with your various nations,"

"_Variations_, you fucking dumb ass,"

She yawned finally, hugging her side pillow, "If you go to sleep before me I'll punch you in the face."

**x x x**

The next day, training was pushed back by a couple of hours. This was because Mr. MaCaffery had finally broken the DKNY endorsement news to his daughter. She didn't believe him at first – who would? – but once she was at the actual studio, she realized just how real it was. When she came back to the hotel with her father, she brought with her a couple of sample pictures to show the rest of the team if they were interested.

Of course the redhead was the first to snatch them out of her hands and go through them, his brows slightly furrowed as he did. They weren't _bad_ or anything, but... "I thought you said it was for jeans," He told his father. In the fifteen or so pictures he was looking at, none of them had her in jeans. In fact, she wasn't even wearing any pants. She was advertising a bikini. But they weren't sexual or anything like that, that was what made them brotherly approved.

Sort of.

"Well DKNY is a big company," Mr. MaCaffery explained.

She was in a bright yellow bikini and there were a pair of sunglasses – probably by DKNY as well – on the top of her head. The picture was good-natured; a red Frisbee in her hands and a huge smile on her face gave the picture innocence.

"You're just jealous I'm way better looking than you," Evian beamed, nudging the redhead in the rib.

Enrique chuckled, "I'm gonna have to agree with that," He stuck out his tongue flirtatiously, "Especially with these pics," But with a pair of stern looks from _both_ Mr. MaCaffery and Tala, he passed the photos around quickly and kept his mouth shut. The coach sent the team downstairs for lunch after a couple of minutes while he made his way over to a completely different hotel, one where Donatien was staying.

"Here," Brandon handed over two notes of paper.

"What's this?" Asked the elder man.

"Cheques. Your $500, 000 and an extra $7, 000 on top of that. I want my daughter back,"

"You want your daughter back?" Donatien raised a questioning brow.

"I don't want her to be part of the USSS. My son just got shot. I don't want to put Evian in any kind of danger,"

"Then who's going to watch over Tala? And what about Kai?"

"Look, I can look after my own son. And Kai has parents of his own that are capable of keeping him out of trouble. I don't want my daughter involved in any of this,"

"You don't think your daughter can handle it?"

"This isn't about whether she can 'handle' it or not. This is about me trying to protect my children. I gave you your money and now I want Evian back and for those contracts to be ripped up,"

Donatien exhaled out loudly, "I don't think you understand what's going on here. That was never my money. That was money from the American government and I'm not American. I'm only France's representative for the USSS. When it comes to Evian, I have no authority over it,"

Brandon's forehead creased in confusion, "How can you have no authority over this? We signed the contracts with you and you're training her,"

"Evian's is part of the United States Secret Services. She's property of the United States. If she was part of France's Secret Services, I may have been able to do something," Kai grandfather eyed the cheques, "And she's worth more than just $507, 000, Brandon. Japan wants her for $615, 000 and Russia for $700, 000,"

"Don't put a price tag on my daughter,"

"I'm not putting a price tag on her, Brandon. I can understand how you feel; I have children of my own and two grandchildren that I love dearly. But Evian belongs to the United States at this moment. I don't have any kind of power over it and neither do you,"

Feeling defeated, the brown haired man put the cheques into his pockets, "Evian doesn't know about this money...issue," He looked up at Donatien, "I would appreciate it if you don't tell her about this,"

The older man raised his arms in defence and sympathy, "She may be under US power but she's still your daughter and what you want her to know and not know is entirely up to you. I won't be saying anything to her."

* * *

**DON'T KILL ME! ...though that's not possible over the internet. **

**New story** – If you guys haven't noticed already, I have a new story out called Exiled. The chapters are a lot shorter and as I've mentioned on my profile, though Dylan Ivanov (OC from Exiled) and Evian MaCaffery may display some similarities, they're very different. If you're an avid reader of DLS, you'll definitely see the difference.

**ANOTHER NOTE – **I just re-read the last chapter and the answer for one of the sex jokes didn't show up and I was just like what the eff? It was this one if anyone was wondering:

"Why is orgasm a 6-letter word?"

"Why?" She enquired but was afraid to find out the answer to the riddle.

"Because it's easier...to spell than... Oh-my-god-yes-oh-shit-deeper-yes-god-please-fuck-me-baby,"

**And I'd like to thank...**

**Fuurai – **GO OUT WITH YOUR FRIENDS! That's what I'm doing, I'm going out with them as much as I can, making new ones as much as I can. I'm hoping this will fix my issues! Lol.

**Waffles – **Ohhhh there's more shit coming, my dear! I'm all about shit. Dramatic shit, that is.

**Lazy Chick – **Because Kai is a boy. Boys are dumbasses.

**NeNe Productions **

**Just a girl**

**NightShroud**

**Aly**

**NightPredator – **Oh man, I loved your long review! Haha! And at least you have SOMETHING in common with your friends, I find that my friends are slowly drifting. We've all talked about it and we all feel the same way and what we're trying now is to just keep meeting up as much as we can and communicate. And the 'let yourself be happy' is definitely the best advice anyone has ever given me. That's what I'm sticking to!

**Kstar orange – **Evian chickened out!

**Peroxxide Priincess – **I wish I could update this story everyday too! But I think I made this story too complicated for even my own self LMAO!

**suzieK. – **I have an unhealthy obsession with my own stories too, its scary lol. And getting this publish lmao...that's not a bad idea considered I'm kicked outta school and have no life now!

**Native-kitten**

**FoxyestWolf – **WHICH PART DID YOU CRY IN? I WANNA KNOW LOL!

**BornAtTheBreakOfDawn – **Oh man, if you thought that guy was an asshole...wait until you hear about what happened to my friend! So the guy led her on for five months and then RANDOMLY stops calling her and we're all like what the hell's going on? And when she texted, he wouldn't text back, when she called, he wouldn't pick up, there was NO communication. And finally I'm like just confront him! And she did, and he said this, in these EXACT words: "You irk me." WTF? That's so asshole-ish! And who uses the work irk in real life? LOL!

**Erikamakino**

**Kaidee-1 – **I EFFING LOVE YOU! I seriously loved ALL your reviews! Omg! Thank you so much! And you should watch Beyblade on youtube, they have all three seasons! I'm re-watching them haha!

**ZuZu-Chan – **How did you read all of this in one night? It seems impossible to me because I can't even read a page in a day! Oh man, I love your review, it was one of the best! Thanks!

**xxZoeyxx**


	34. Chapter 34

**I M P O R T A N T ! **There are some things I would like to address! Please read this before you continue on with the story.

**WARNING. **This story will be very psychological. It was always meant to be. There may be certain things in this story that people may not be comfortable reading...but that's what makes me, _me_: Ms. Controversy.

**EVIAN MACAFFERY.** I know its 30+ chapters in, but her character, believe it or not, is not fully developed.

**TALA MACAFFERY. **Remember that Tala is Evian's (younger) twin. As twins, they will have considerable similarities...and considerable differences. Use him to catch onto Evian's developments as a character. You may use other characters also (namely Kai and Mr. MaCaffery).

**REBOOT. **This story was first written when I had just turned 17. I am turning 23 in September. The last time this story was updated was a year ago. That is 6 years altogether. I mention this b/c this story WAS/IS like a journal. Because of this, you may or may not notice certain changes in certain characters due to the fact that within 6 years, I have experienced a lot more 'stuff' in my life. However, this will be an advantage for the story given that the story is meant to be psychological and change is inevitable.

**CHAPTERS.** The chapters for DLS will be reduced (so that I can update more often and get to the point faster). This chapter is especially short just so we can all jump back into the story.

**SUGGESTION. **Before you start this chapter, I would suggest reading at least the last few chapters.

* * *

_I'm like a puzzle but all of my pieces are jagged._

**DLS**_34_

_Mr. and Mrs. MaCaffery,_

_The Whiz Kid Foundation is pleased to grant you $15, 000 to cover the tuition fees for Evian's admission to Ace Academy for the Gifted. Enclosed is a cheque with the listed amount._

_We wish you and your daughter the best of luck._

_Sincerely,_

_The Whiz Kid Foundation_

Lowering the outdated letter, Boris looked over at the curly haired boy who stood a couple of feet away from him, "She is gifted? Why wasn't I told?"

Face twisted up in confusion, Marshal proceeded to answer the question, "I go to school with her; she can't be gifted, it's impossible. She's failing almost everything,"

Ignoring the brunette, the purple haired man pulled out a file from way back and got out what appeared to be admission papers, "Tala Bradley MaCaffery admitted to BioVolt July 17, 1991," He paused and looked over at the letter from the Whiz Kid Foundation, "This is dated July 20, 1991," Laying both papers side by side, he nodded to himself as if he had understood everything, "Payment of $13, 500 for registration into BioVolt received on July 21, 1991. This makes sense; I always wondered how they were able to pay for his funding for the Abbey. Interesting," He sneered and made eye contact with the brunette, "I want a file to be made on Evian. I want her medical records, her school reports, _everything_."

**x x x**

With her body on the ground and one hand reached outward at the end of the cliff, empty, the blonde continued staring down at the jagged rocks and water. It was too dark to see much of anything except for the waves crashing into the rocks and the sound of it. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she rolled over immediately, confused to have found herself lying in bed, her brother giving her a pathetic look. She turned around again to look all the way down the overhang, only to come face to face with her pillow instead. As someone shoved her a few times, she glanced over her shoulder.

"Wake up, Blondie,"

Finally being able to differentiate between dreamland and reality, Evian relaxed. But it felt so real; the pebbles and rocks grazing against her skin, the smell of the ocean and pine trees, the height from where she was to where she was looking...

Where was she looking anyway? Was this her inner conscious' way of telling her that she was contemplating suicide? That couldn't be; she was against those kinds of things. Sitting up on the mattress and finding herself in jean shorts and a top she normally wouldn't go to sleep in, she realized she must have fallen asleep after lunch.

"Evian!"

The blonde yawned as she furrowed her brows at the redhead, angrily kicking him in the butt, "Stop yelling,"

"Then wake up,"

"I'm tired,"

"You slept the whole day," He scooted next to her, his elbow propped on her shoulder lazily while he used his other hand to text someone something, "I'm bored, let's go out,"

"Let's get ice cream,"

"We can do that too," He pocketed his phone, "But I was thinking about checking out the city,"

"Okay," She nodded in agreement before sliding off the mattress and heading to the washroom to freshen up. Any smudged liner was fixed, her clothes were straightened out, and her hair was brushed into place.

"You wouldn't mind," Tala begun as she stepped out of the washroom, putting on a pair of flats that were left by the doorway, "if Kai comes with us, would you?"

"Not really,"

"So you want him to come?"

Evian narrowed her eyes at the redhead, "I don't like the way you're asking me. It's like you _want_ me to say that I _want_ him to come,"

"Do you _want_ that?"

Not comprehending, the blonde attempted to clarify the situation, "Why would I want or not want him to come?"

"I'm not trying to do anything, I'm just asking you a yes or no question: do you care if I ask him to come with us?"

"If you want him to come then tell him to come," Evian rolled her eyes, "You don't need to ask me. I'm going to wait downstairs," She left the room quickly to avoid further questions on the strange matter. The captain – and the vice captain – had joined minutes later, the three heading out of the hotel and hastily cutting across traffic and jogging into a forested area to avoid paparazzi. They walked along the path, the blonde a few steps behind the two, busy on her Blackberry while the others conversed.

It was minutes into their trip when Tala felt his sister roughly shove in between them. Annoyed, he planned on pushing her back, but was interrupted in the process.

"We're going the wrong way," She said, placing a finger on the screen of her phone, "It says on the GPS,"

What did she mean they were going the wrong way? They hadn't even _picked_ a way to go, it was just random.

"It's the wrong way," She turned towards Kai, pushing the phone into his hands, "You can check if you don't believe me,"

Pausing, the slate haired teen raised a brow before eyeing the phone, the redhead leaning over to look also. There was no GPS on the phone. Instead it was something she had typed up on her phone: _someone is following us_. Upon reading it, Tala and Kai exchanged glances with each other. But there was no need to be discreet anymore as they heard a _thud_ of the person jumping off a tree and landing on the ground behind them. Scared for her life, the blonde was the first to make a run for it diverging off the walk path and heading for a completely unsystematic direction, pushing bushes and branches out of her way, jumping over things and making sure _not _to fall down like last time. She could hear people running behind her, and whether it was Kai and Tala or the other person, she didn't know.

She didn't _want_ to know.

Without looking back, she continued, desperately trying to find the way out of the trees and grass to the streets and roads.

She slowed down, however, when she noticed an overhang up ahead signalling a physical dead end. Before she could come to a complete stop, she felt someone crash into her from behind, resulting in her falling on the ground on her hands and knees just inches away from the end but a second push sent her tumbling down the dirty, grassy, rock-strewn mound.

"Fuck!"

"What the hell?"

"Shit,"

At least none of them had been separated. Kai picked himself up hastily, ignoring the inconsequential throbbing that was coming from different parts of his body. He spotted the blonde on her feet but bent over checking out the massive scrape on her knee, blood discharging out of it and trickling down her legs.

"Don't touch it," The vice captain warned quickly before she could swipe over it with her hand, "You'll infect it,"

Nonetheless, while these two had managed to get up, Tala had a harder time, "I think I sprained my ankle,"

Evian looked upward and then glowered back at him, "We don't have time for that!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Stop being a baby!" She looked towards the top once again, "Get up!"

As the redhead extended a hand towards her as if to ask for help, Kai evaluated the situation at hand. He could make a run for it and probably even get away with it. He didn't have much faith in Evian to do the same; she was a small girl and to outrun a _man _out to kill them wasn't very realistic to him. And Tala was inevitably out of commission; the best he could do was limp and that would just slow all of them down, given they chose to stick together. And he did want to stay together. In conclusion, running away was out of question. He scanned the area until his eyes landed on a small save right below the overhang they'd fallen off, "In there," He voiced, taking up authority for now. He helped the team captain, more so than Evian could for obvious reasons, shoved him into the makeshift hideout first, followed by himself, and then the blonde getting in at last. It was tiny, crowded, and uncomfortable, but he trusted it to keep them safe.

For now.

"How long do we have to be in here?" Evian whispered, only to have the redhead 'shh' in response. There was nothing but utter silence for the next five to seven minutes and just when they thought the coast was clear, the three perked up when they heard the sound of a twig snapping under someone's footstep nearby. They kept as still as humanely possible, some of them even opting to hold their breath, hoping and praying things would turn out okay, and for a while, they seemed to be okay.

That was until one of them went _un_-according to plan.

Kai felt the blonde to his left shift around, their skin to skin contact disappearing as she randomly shuffled out of the cave and out in the open. Before he could register what was even happening, Tala had leaned over from his other side just in time to grab hold of her ankle, the action causing her to practically face-plant on the ground as he tried to pull her back, "What the fuck are you doing!" He whispered.

She didn't say anything. All she tried to do was get out of his grip and pull the _other_ way, away from the cave and as she began kicking at his hand to cut loose, his tone turned defensive, "Evian, listen, listen to me, come on, please,"

In the time it took Tala to plead, Kai had already calculated that she wasn't going to listen. She wanted to leave. It was understandable. Nobody wanted to be involved in a life and death situation, especially if they had no part in anything. Technically, it wasn't even fair to her to be stuck with them. "Let her go,"

"Fuck you, Kai!" The redhead declined.

"It's best for her to separate from us," Kai reasoned, "They're not after her. If you let her go, she has a better chance of escape,"

And from the look on the younger twin's face, the vice captain could tell he didn't want to let go...but that he should. Slowly and practically unwillingly, the redhead's hand withdrew from his sister's ankle. Upon freedom, Evian didn't waste time; she hadn't even looked back as she made a run for it, and as her figure eventually vanished into the forest, a feeling of impending doom loomed over Tala.

As insignificant as it may have seemed to let her go, it was actually a big step...for him. He couldn't remember a time when Evian _willingly _ditched him when he was in trouble like this. He had no idea how she'd be able to guard him from this danger – he knew she couldn't – but still, her presence had always made him feel safe. Was she that scared? Had her magic finally run out? She couldn't look after him? She didn't want to? She wanted to save herself instead? Could he label her as selfish? Would that be right? Was _he_ selfish for wanting to her stay, knowing how hazardous this situation was?

Still...wasn't blood supposed to be thicker than water?

Tala recalled the last time; she had urinated herself from fear, right in front of him and perhaps unconsciously. He used that as a measure to determine and imagine just how afraid Evian might have been this time around.

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt as whatever light they had in the cave was suddenly shadowed over and when he looked up, he found their predator, a sneer etched on his features. He watched Kai next to him who had his head down, giving in to whatever his fate was.

Realizing he couldn't fight it either, Tala accepted it too. At least Kai was right: Evian had been better off separating from them.

The redhead studied the man. He was grimy looking with brown eyes and brown hair but when he noticed a flutter of blonde hair from the side of the man's face, Tala narrowed his eyes. He moved his head, the change in angle resulting him to catch a glimpse of Evian standing directly behind the man like a creep, a massive tree branch in her possession, about a meter in length and a few of inches in diameter.

She snuck up so quietly that the man hadn't even noticed and only when she brought the branch down to the back of his head with a hard hit did he react, falling over to the side, grabbing his bleeding skull in pain, looking up at _his_ predator in surprise.

And anger. "You little bitch!" He growled as he tried to stand up. But she had taken that option away from him as she busted one of his kneecaps by striking him over his leg. He let out an agonizing yell and rolled over in an attempt to _crawl_ away, but she had eliminated that possibility too; a sickening crack was heard, one which made even the strong-stomached Tala wrinkle his nose, as Evian hit the man over the spine. Turning on his back, the man raised both his arms defensively, "Please," So odd how the tables had turned, "I'm...I'm sorry,"

The apology seemed to have worked as she paused, lowering the weapon and eyeing the man, then glancing over her shoulder at the redhead. What she was trying to say nonverbally, if anything, Tala couldn't tell. He didn't say anything either, and if planned on doing so, it was too late. She turned back around, raising the branch over the man's face and massacre continued. Blood seeped out of his nose, his lips, his mouth, practically from everywhere and it was almost black in colour indicated severe damage. The redhead watched in horror and beside him, even Kai had frozen up at the intensely gruesome scenario.

And she wasn't stopping.

It was at this point Tala realized the man would die. Pushing past the bluenette, he emerged from the cave and limped as fast as he could to his other half, "Evian!" Getting close enough, he shoved her slightly, "Stop!" But it was too late. One look at the deceased and Tala felt sick. He couldn't tell where the man's eyes were, his nose was _gone_, and overall his face resembled a bowl of minestrone soup: completely disfigured and unrecognizable.

The feel to vomit rising, Tala immediately looked away. He stared at the ground in an attempt to contain himself before turning to face Evian. She looked like an animal. Her pristine blonde hair, now covered in leaves, her usually clean and trendy clothing, now dirty and torn in some places, her well taken care of legs, now stained in dried blood from the cut on her knee, that natural glow to her face, replaced with dark smudges and splatters of her _victim's_ blood. The branch in her hand just added to the look of barbarism.

He took a step towards her carefully to let her know it was okay when she unexpectedly raised the makeshift weapon, ready to take a swing at her own brother. Upon reflex the redhead closed his eyes and sheltered himself with an arm but when the impact never came, he regained his composure.

Tossing the branch aside, Evian laughed, "Just kidding."

* * *

**Thanks to everyone who has waited so incredibly long for this chapter. I even had people asking me about this story in their reviews for my other story. This story is hard to write b/c I've introduced so much into it. I will update as fast as I can. I just need to reorganize. **

**Gone-to-Lunch-Indefinately**

**Crying Sorceress**

**Peroxxide Priincess**

**just a girl**

**midnightwolf62**

**kstar orange**

**xxZoeyxx**

**-Kaidee- 1**

**Fuurai**

**NightPredator**

**Ninja2k**

**sakuravampire-aqua**

**BornAtTheBreakOfDawn**

**AriOnE**

**Waffles**

**native-kitten**

**eloquent dreams**

**meh**

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan**


End file.
